Evie
by muhnemma
Summary: Lily and James had another child, who they sent into hiding for her protection. Fourteen years later she returns. Set during OOTP.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters in the books.

* * *

**Prologue**

Chaos reigned in the Potter household. Several crates were stacked on top of each other, hastily nailed shut and waiting to be moved. Although the crates looked small, they had been enchanted to hold more than they were supposed to. Not that the Potters could take much with them to their new "home". They had only found out that they were moving earlier on in the day, leaving them little time to pack. Whatever they didn't take would stay behind in the house, waiting for them for when they returned. _If _they returned.

Lily was slumped in a worn armchair, a small bundle cradled in her lap. She knew she should feel exhausted after the hectic whirlwind of the last few hours, but she was wide awake. The bundle in her lap stirred and moaned, and she quickly reached down to soothe her daughter. Apart from James' black hair, Evie was a perfect copy of Lily in miniature. She was already dressed in her pajamas but a coat had been tightly buttoned over the top of them, and her tiny feet were enclosed in a pair of shoes. Lily took the opportunity to drink in Evie's features, trying to etch them into her memory; she had no way of knowing when she would see her again.

In the next room James fussed over Harry, making sure that he was wearing enough layers to protect him from the cold night air. When he was satisfied that he would be warm enough, James returned him to his cot and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead before leaving the room. He negotiated a path through piles of books and discarded clothing, and eventually found Lily and Evie curled up together in their favourite chair. When Lily turned her face towards him he tried to offer her a reassuring smile, but couldn't quite manage one.

"Lily, we're doing the right-" A soft tapping on the door cut James off mid sentence. Both of them froze, first casting nervous looks at the door and then at each other. One hand thrust into his jacket pocket, ready to grab the wand that was concealed there, James began to move across the room. He drew back the curtains an inch and peered through the small window. From her position on the other side of the room, Lily saw his posture relax and felt a wave of relief flood through her. James pulled out his wand and performed the complex series of motions that were needed to open the door. Finally, after a loud click, the door swung open.

Dumbledore swept inside, his blue cloak billowing noiselessly behind him. He shut the door and nodded briefly to James before his eyes fell on Lily. The relief and happiness that she had felt only moments before suddenly evaporated. Despite the fact that she knew what was coming, that they had been planning this for days, she couldn't quite believe what she was about to do. Without realising it, she tightened her grip on Evie, causing her to grumble in her sleep.

"I can't do it." Lily muttered, stroking Evie's cheek. "I can't let her go. I'm supposed to look after her."

James sighed and looked at Dumbledore helplessly, pleading silently for assistance. Dumbledore moved over to Lily's side. "This is the best way of protecting her, Lily. She'll be safer away from you than she would be if she stayed."

Lily shook her head, refusing to accept the truth of Dumbledore's words. "If it's safer away from us, then why are we not sending Harry with her?"

"Voldemort isn't hunting you or James, he wants Harry." Dumbledore said, pulling off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "But he won't hesitate to kill either of you if you stand in his way. Nor will he hesitate to kill Evie, which is why she is safer apart from you."

"Maybe," Lily began hopefully. "One of us can stay with Harry and the other can go with Evie. That way-"

"No, Lily." Dumbledore interrupted forcefully. "You know it can't be that way. Both you and James need to protect Harry."

Lily stared hard at Dumbledore before letting her eyes drop back to Evie, who had remained sleeping throughout the conversation. After a long silence she said, in a voice that was no more than a whisper, "Who are you taking her to? Who will be looking after her?"

"I think it's better that you don't know. If Voldemort should find you, and try to extract that information-"

"You think that I would betray my own daughter?" Lily looked up sharply.

"Never willingly, my dear." Dumbledore's voice softened. "But he will have ways of finding out."

"He's right, Lily." James said quietly from the corner.

Lily sighed and closed her eyes, looking incredibly weary. When she opened them again she leant down to Evie and began to whisper in her ear. "It won't be for long. We'll all be back together soon. I promise." She kissed her cheek and took one last long look at her before gathering her in her arms and standing up. Carefully, making sure not to wake her, she handed Evie over to Dumbledore, who held her easily.

"I think it would be wise to leave now."

"Already?" Lily asked, desperation creeping into her voice. Dumbledore nodded mutely and began to move back to the door. James held it open and passed him the bag that contained most of Evie's clothes. When Dumbledore slipped outside, James cast a quick look at Lily before hurrying out after him.

"Wait!" He called. "If anything should happen to us…"

Dumbledore nodded and smiled sadly. "Sirius. She will go to Sirius."

James hesitated a moment before asking, "Can I say goodbye?"

"Of course." Dumbledore moved closer to James, holding Evie out to him.

"I'll see you soon." James whispered, stroking her dark hair and smiling at her adoringly. "Don't cause too much trouble, wherever you're going."

James stood back and nodded to Dumbledore, indicating that now was the time to leave. Dumbledore walked down the garden path, Evie still held safely in his arms. Unable to watch them disappear, James turned his back and shut his eyes tightly. A loud _crack _rang through the air, and when he turned around both Dumbledore and Evie were gone.


	2. Bringing Her Home

_**Fourteen years later.**_

A cloaked man hurried up the hill. Although the path twisted at odd angles and was slick with fresh rain, he moved easily, without concern that he would trip and fall. He kept his eyes fixed on his destination: a small cottage that, exposed as it was on high ground, was being battered by the strong gales. Within a few moments he had pushed open the rotting wooden gate and was striding towards the door. He raised his hand to knock, but it was jerked open before his knuckles could rap against it.

An anxious face peered through the small crack between door and wall. Seeing who her visitor was, she let out a cry of relief and flung open the door. "Dumbledore!" She sighed, her voice almost lost in the wind. "We didn't expect to see you! Come in, come in – it's a rotten night tonight." She stood aside and waved Dumbledore in. He obeyed eagerly, grateful to be out of the storm.

As he crossed the threshold he took off his hat, showering the floor with tiny droplets of water. The woman hurried forward and relieved him of it and his cloak. "Thank you, Mae." He said, smiling at her. She beamed back at him and gave him a gentle push in the direction of the fire where an inviting armchair stood waiting. He plopped down into the chair, reveling in the warm glow that the flames sent through him.

Mae bustled around the room, conjuring a tea set and tin of biscuits from thin air. Dumbledore took the opportunity to discretely survey her; her hair, which had had a considerable number of grey strands mixed amongst the jet black when he had first visited her fifteen years ago, had greyed completely. Worry lines were etched around her mouth, and the dark circles under her eyes indicated that she'd had more than her fair share of sleepless nights. Dumbledore felt a slight pang of guilt when he realised that the burden he'd placed on Mae and her husband was responsible for this, but he quickly pushed it aside. They had accepted their task readily, even happily, and he knew that they regretted nothing about the past few years.

"Is Aaron here?" He asked quietly, accepting the cup of tea that she offered.

"He's out back. Something put the wind up the horses and he went to calm them." She frowned at the clock on the wall. "But he should be back by now; he left nearly half an hour ago."

Dumbledore took a sip of the hot liquid. "And what about-"

"She's upstairs. Probably stuck in one of her books." Mae smiled fondly. "She'd never put them down if we didn't-" At the back of the house a door slammed, cutting her off.

"Ah, that'll be Aaron now." Mae told Dumbledore, looking relieved.

Aaron shuffled into the living room, a pair of dripping wellington boots held in his hands. His hair was ruffled and a piece of hay was tangled in it. He shook his head to dislodge it and then looked up to greet his wife. His smile froze on his face as his eyes fell on Dumbledore. "You." He croaked. "What are you doing here?"

"Aaron!" Mae scolded. "Don't be so rude!"

Aaron ignored her, his eyes still firmly fixed on Dumbledore. "What are you doing here?" He repeated.

Dumbledore sighed and placed his cup on the rickety coffee table in front of him. "We have things to discuss."

"No." Aaron threw down his boots and began to unbutton his coat. "Nothing to discuss."

"Aaron-" Dumbledore began.

"No!" Aaron spun around to face Dumbledore, his eyes flashing. "We're not even going to talk about it. She's not going anywhere."

"I'm afraid that's no longer you're choice." Dumbledore explained calmly.

"Of course it is! Me and Mae raised her, didn't we? Looked after her for all these years. We're the closest thing she has to parents, and we decide what's best for her!" By the time Aaron finished he was almost shouting.

"Not anymore. She's of age."

Aaron and Dumbledore stared at each other in silence. Aaron's fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, but Dumbledore just looked at him passively. Mae, who had remained silent through the exchange, began to speak. "What are you talking about?" There was a slight tremor in her voice and she fiddled nervously with the sleeve of her shirt.

"He wants to take her away from us." Aaron growled.

Dumbledore sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing the place where they had pinched his nose. "I think it's time that she returned to England."

"No." Aaron shook his head. "Her place is here with us."

Dumbledore pushed himself out of his chair. "When Harry began his magical education, I believed that it was time to reunite them. You insisted that she remain here. I respected your wishes because in taking her in you risked your lives. But now she's seventeen and you can't prevent her from going home if that is her wish."

"But this is her home!" Mae cried. "She has lived with us since she was a child. What life does she know other than this?"

"She knows she has a brother." Dumbledore moved towards Mae and placed his hands on her shoulders, but she jerked out of his grasp. "After what happened to Lily and James it's unfair to stop her from having a relationship with him. Not just on her but on Harry too. She's the only family he has and he doesn't even know she exists."

Aaron opened his mouth to retort, but movement at the bottom of the stairs caught his eye. All of them turned to see a young woman clutching the banister, a book held loosely in one hand. Dumbledore smiled to see her; she was the image of her mother, apart from the black hair that fell in waves to her waist. The last time he had seen her she had been a toddler, swathed in blankets and cradled in his arms.

"Is no one going to ask what I want?" When she spoke there was a slight accent to her voice which was only just noticeable.

After a long silence Mae hurried forwards to meet her. "Of course, dear, of course we'll do what you want. This is your choice." Aaron began to protest but Mae silenced him with a look. Dumbledore nodded approvingly.

Evie looked from Dumbledore to the people who had been her parents for as long as she could remember. Eventually she sighed and lowered her eyes to the floor. When she looked up her face was set in grim determination, and Mae and Aaron knew she had made up her mind. "I want to meet my brother."


	3. Introductions

"Now, have you packed everything you'll need?" Mae asked, peering into Evie's trunk with one hand resting on the lid.

"Yes auntie." Evie said, firmly closing the trunk and tapping it with her wand to lock it. "I've got everything but the kitchen sink, and I'm sure you'd make me take that if you could."

Mae rolled her eyes and playfully swatted at Evie, who easily dodged her hand. "I'm only looking after you. You'll miss is when you're…" Her voice trailed off and her smile slipped. She quickly began to busy herself with the nearest pile of Evie's clothes.

"Auntie." Evie said gently. When Mae didn't speak or turn around she moved over to her and placed her hands on top of hers, forcing her to cease her folding and look up. "I'm sorry for leaving you and uncle Aaron. You know how much I love you both, but this is just something I need to do."

Mae smiled sadly and pushed back a lock of Evie's hair that had worked itself free of her loose ponytail. "Don't apologise, dear. You have nothing to be sorry for. I know how much meeting your brother means to you, and so does your uncle. The way he's acting…" Mae frowned. "He's just going to miss you and he doesn't know how to say it."

Evie lowered her eyes. "He seems so angry with me."

"He's not angry, dear. Just sad." Mae patted her hand and then glanced at the clock. "Gracious!" She cried. "It's almost time! Dumbledore said he wanted to leave within the hour. Get your cloak." She ordered as she jabbed her wand at the trunk. The trunk rose slowly into the air and when Mae left the room it hovered after her. Evie threw her cloak around her shoulders and hurried after her aunt.

There was no sign of her in the living room, so she headed straight for the garden. Standing by the gate were Mae and Dumbledore, who were deep in conversation. Evie couldn't hear them but she knew that Dumbledore was receiving a warning about the horrible fate that awaited him should she come to any harm. Grinning, she scanned the garden for Aaron and found him leaning against the apple tree, staring off into the distance. With his hands thrust deep into his pockets he looked more like a sullen teenager than a man fast approaching his sixtieth birthday. Evie was more relieved than she liked to admit that he was here; a small part of her had been terrified that he wouldn't show up to say goodbye to her.

Mae called and waved her over and Evie hurried to her.

"It's time we were leaving." Dumbledore told her softly. "If we hurry we might even be there in time for lunch."

Evie smiled up at him, grateful for his attempt to lighten the sombre mood. She turned to Mae, who was finally shedding the tears she had been holding back since Evie made her decision the previous night. Mae pulled her into a fierce hug and kissed the top of her head. "Don't leave it too long to come and visit." She said through her tears. "And make sure you write in the mean time."

"Of course, auntie" Evie mumbled into her shoulder. Mae released her and dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve. She smiled and jerked her head at something behind Evie.

Evie spun around and was jerked into another embrace. Aaron's arms crushed the breath out of her but she savoured the hug anyway, knowing that this would be the last one she'd get for a while. "No matter what happens," His voice was gruff in her ear. "You'll always have a home with us. Never feel that you can't come back here." By way of reply she tightened her grip on him, clinging harder. The hug seemed like it went on for hours, but when Aaron finally let her go she found herself wishing that it had lasted longer.

"Look after her, Albus." Aaron said, his voice wavering slightly.

"Of course." Replied Dumbledore, who had moved to stand at Evie's side. He lay a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Are you ready?" He asked. Evie nodded. "Hold on to me tight and don't worry about the trunk, it's already been sent on."

"Goodbye." Evie croaked, feeling a lump rise in her throat. As she took hold of Dumbledore's arm she took a last look at the garden. When she saw the swing that Aaron had fixed to the tree when she was six, and the sunflowers that she and Mae had planted the previous summer hot tears began to sting her eyes.

The last thing she saw before disappearing was Aaron and Mae holding onto each other, smiling and waving at her even as they cried.

* * *

Evie landed with a thud onto solid concrete and a wave of dizziness almost sent her crashing to the ground. It was only Dumbledore's steadying hands on her shoulders that stopped her from falling. She shook her head to try and clear the disorientation. When she looked up Dumbledore was peering into her face with a mixture of sympathy and amusement. 

"First time apparating?" He asked.

Evie nodded, not yet trusting herself to open her mouth without being sick.

"I wouldn't worry, this happens to everyone their first time. It'll clear up in a few moments. While we're waiting, read this." He rummaged in the pocket of his robe and pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment, which he handed to Evie. Straightening it out, she read the elegant writing:

_The location of the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London._

"What…" Evie began to ask, but even as she spoke a house began to squeeze itself into existence before her eyes, shoving aside the houses on either side of it. By the time what was presumably Number 12 Grimmauld Place had stopped growing, she had found her voice.

"A Fidelius Charm?" She asked quietly.

Dumbledore looked surprised and mildly impressed. "Yes. I see Mae and Aaron haven't been lax in your education; not many of my seventh years could tell me what a Fidelius Charm is."

Evie smiled. "My aunt and uncle didn't teach me that. I came across it in a book."

Dumbledore's lips twitched. "I know at least one person you're going to get along with. Now we should be getting inside before we attract too much attention." He ushered her towards the house and then rapped sharply on the door.

Within a few moments there came a loud rattle as bolts and chains were undone. The door opened, revealing a haggard looking wizard. He was very pale and looked as if he'd been skipping a few meals recently. When he saw Dumbledore the smile that lit his face made him look several years younger. The smile faltered slightly as his eyes fell on Evie.

"New recruit?" He asked softly as he stepped aside to allow them entrance.

"Not quite." Dumbledore murmured, closing the door firmly behind him. When he had finished fastening all the locks he turned to Evie. "This is Remus Lupin." The man identified as Remus smiled and inclined his head politely. "Remus, this is… Well, maybe it's better if I told everyone at once."

Dumbledore began to walk down the long, dark corridor and Remus and Evie fell in step behind him. All the while Remus kept his eyes fixed on Evie, a slight frown on his face. Evie felt uncomfortable under his gaze and was glad when they reached the kitchen. As they entered the small room, everyone turned to greet Dumbledore. At first no one noticed Evie and she took the opportunity to survey the group of people crowded around the wooden table.

An exhausted looking woman was slowly making her way around the table, ladling out what looked like soup into everyone's bowls. The soup smelled delicious and Evie felt her stomach rumble as she caught a whiff of it. Sitting at the far end of the table, their heads close together, were two lanky twin boys. Listening in on their conversation was a younger girl, who she guessed was their sister as they shared the same bright red hair and freckles. Another boy who could pass for their sibling was mopping up soup with a piece of bread and eating it as fast as he could. A girl with a vast amount of bushy brown hair was staring at him in disgust, shaking her head. The only other person in the room was a gaunt looking man, who was pushing his spoon around idly in his bowl of soup. When he looked up his eyes locked immediately with Evie's and his jaw dropped.

"Dumbledore." He croaked. "Who's this?"

Everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing and looked curiously at Evie. Dumbledore smiled reassuringly at Evie before addressing the small group of people. "Now that I have your attention, I might as well introduce the young lady. This is Evie. Evie Potter."


	4. Questions and Answers

The silence that followed was so oppressive that Evie could almost feel it. She suddenly felt herself pinned down by nine pairs of eyes and she shifted uncomfortably. As one the young people turned to the bushy haired girl, who merely shrugged helplessly and returned her gaze to Evie. The harassed looking woman frowned in confusion and the bowl in her arms began to slip. Evie tried to call out a warning but it was too late; the bowl crashed to the floor, spattering hot soup everywhere. The woman muttered under her breath and pulled out her wand before setting to work cleaning up the mess.

The gaunt man, who had been staring unbelievingly at Evie until then, seemed to be brought to his senses by the crash. "I knew it." He croaked, leaping to his feet. "I knew it straight away." He hurried towards her, almost stumbling over the table leg in his haste. When he came to a halt in front of her he placed his hands on her shoulders and began to search her face with his eyes.

"Sirius, perhaps that's not-" Dumbledore began.

"It's alright." Evie reassured, offering him a small smile. Dumbledore nodded and made no further protest, allowing Evie to turn her attention back to the man gripping her by the shoulders. She didn't like being handled by strangers but something in the man's eyes told her she had nothing to fear from him. Behind the caution was barely concealed hope; it was as if he needed to touch her to reassure himself that she was real. When he pulled her into a tentative hug she found her arms automatically closing around him.

"Dumbledore?" The woman had finished cleaning the spilt soup and was now staring at Evie again. "What's going on?"

Dumbledore sighed and took a seat at the table. "I shall explain but I think it's only fair that I introduce everyone first. Evie, if you'd take a seat."

The man reluctantly released Evie and steered her towards the bench by her elbow. When she sat down he sat next to her and kept his hand on her arm, as if he was afraid that she would disappear if he let go. Once they were seated Dumbledore began the round of introductions.

"This is Molly Weasley." He waved his hand at the woman, who smiled nervously. "And these are her children. Fred, George, Ginny and Ron." As he said their names he pointed at each in turn. The twins raised their hands in greeting and their sister grinned welcomingly. Ron just stared at her with his mouth hanging open. "This," Dumbledore continued. "Is Hermione Granger, a friend of the family." Hermione stared at Evie intently. "Remus you've already met and the man sitting next to you is Sirius Black."

Evie jumped slightly at this information. Dumbledore had already told her about this man: he was her godfather. When she started Sirius quickly withdrew his hand, perhaps mistaking her shock for fear (she of course knew about his imprisonment in Azkaban and the false accusations made against him). She placed her hand gently on his forearm and smiled up at him, hoping to dispel any idea he might have that she was afraid of him. He smiled back, his relief palpable.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and Evie turned her attention back to him. "Evie is Harry's sister."

The roar from the Weasley siblings was deafening.

"What are you-"

"How can that-"

"Harry hasn't got-"

Dumbledore held up his hand for silence and got it immediately. "I will, of course, explain everything." He pulled off his glasses and began to polish them on the sleeve of his robe as he launched into his tale.

"Not many people knew that the Potters had another child before Harry. Those who did know," He nodded to Sirius and Remus. "Believed her to be dead. Murdered in the same attack that killed her parents. However, as you can see, she's alive and well. Shortly before Voldemort tracked them down, James and Lily agreed to send Evie into hiding. I took her out of the country and placed her in the care of a couple who I knew would love and protect her."

"Why didn't you bring her back after Voldemort's death?" Sirius asked.

"Who would I return her to?" Dumbledore asked sadly. "Her parents were dead and her godfather was locked away. The aunt and uncle who took Harry in would never have agreed to take her as well; they already deeply resented having to look after their orphaned nephew. Beside that, the Death Eaters were still at large and furious about their master's demise. I greatly feared that they would seek Evie out to take their revenge on her. So I left her with the couple and did nothing to correct the rumours of her death."

"Excuse me, sir." Hermione spoke up. Dumbledore looked at her questioningly. "If that's the case then why have you brought her back now, when You-Know-Who has returned?"

"This isn't the time I chose for her return. I believed that she and Harry should have been reunited when he began his magical education. I felt it immensely unfair to deprive them of the only family they had, but the people who cared for her insisted she remain with them. They still feared for her safety, and by that time they had come to love her as their own daughter. As they had risked their lives by taking her in I respected their wishes. But now-"

"Now I'm of age." Evie interrupted. "It was my choice to come back here."

Everyone turned their gazes back to Evie and she found herself shifting awkwardly again. To everyone's surprise it was Ron who broke the silence. He addressed Evie directly, for which she was grateful; throughout Dumbledore's explanation they had spoken of her as if she wasn't in the room. "Does Harry know about you?" Evie shook her head. "Have you met him yet?" She shook her head again. "If you need filling in on anything we'll help you. We're his friends from school." He nudged Hermione.

Hermione nodded. "He's done a lot over the past few years that you should probably know about."

Before Evie could thank them Mrs Weasley spoke up. "Would you like something to eat, dear? The soup is a lost cause but I can rustle something up."

"I'd like that, thank you." Evie's stomach lurched pleasantly at the thought of food. Mrs Weasley beamed at her and began to busy herself at the sink.

"Sirius, could you find Evie a bedroom while Molly is preparing some lunch?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course." He got to his feet, gently pulling Evie up beside him.

* * *

Later that evening everyone was tucking into the sumptuous meal that Mrs Weasley had prepared. Evie was still full from the "snack" (which was actually more like a three course meal) that she had been given at lunch time, but she found that she just couldn't refuse Mrs Weasley's delicious cooking. She'd been bombarded with questions for the past few hours but people were still finding things to ask her over dinner. Remus was currently showing a lot of interest in her chosen career. 

"Well," Evie explained, spooning a heap of creamy pasta onto her plate. "I've been writing short stories for _Witch Weekly _for a couple of months now. I send them in by owl and use an assumed name; otherwise they probably wouldn't have accepted anything from me because of my age."

"I'd like to read some of your writing if you wouldn't mind." Said Sirius, who had been listening in on the conversation.

Evie grimaced. "I don't think you'd like it, it's all dreadfully romantic. Girl meets boy. Boy shows unhealthy interest in girl's sister. Girl turns boy into a frog. Girl elopes with boy who gives advice on the proper care of amphibians."

Sirius snickered into his plate. "I don't know. I've been known to be romantic from time to time."

"You haven't got a romantic bone in your body." Snorted Remus. He leant over to Evie and murmured confidentially, "At school he once cursed a girl he liked so that she'd sprout vast amounts of ear and nose hair." Evie and Remus dissolved into fits of laughter as Sirius choked on a piece of pasta. Fred, who was sitting next to Sirius, gave him a hard thump on the back. When he recovered he mumbled his thanks before gulping down a large glass of water.

"What's your pen name?" He asked Evie, desperate for a change of subject.

"Esmeralda Rose." She winced. Sirius and Remus were overcome with laughter again, but Mrs Weasley was staring at Evie open mouthed. "Are you alright, Mrs Weasley?"

"You're Esmeralda Rose?" She asked, sounding slightly breathless. When Evie nodded she let loose a torrent of praise. "I _love _your latest story! Having to wait a week for instalments has been driving me mad! What happens do Gwendolyn? Does she-"

A bright flash above the table cut Mrs Weasley off. Everyone fell silent as a golden feather and a piece of parchment drifted to the table. Mrs Weasley snatched the parchment from the air and quickly unfurled it. Her eyes widened as she scanned the message. "Oh my," She gasped. "Harry has been expelled!"


	5. In The Middle Of The Night

The rest of the night past in a blur. Various people flitted into the house and were given only a cursory explanation of who Evie was; they barely had time to express their amazement before they were off again, intent on completing whatever important business they had. The only people who remained in the house were Bill, another Weasley sibling, and Mr Weasley himself. After the initial shock they greeted Evie warmly, treating her like she was an old friend of the family.

Shortly after midnight Dumbledore returned. Although he moved with the air of dignity he always had, he couldn't hide the weariness etched onto his features and the relief when he sat down was evident for everyone to see. Despite his tiredness he explained what had happened to Harry: the attack of the Dementors, his subsequent expulsion and Dumbledore's battle with the Minister of Magic to give him a fair trial. By the time Dumbledore finished Evie thought she couldn't possibly be in a greater state of anxiety and confusion. She was wrong. When the eminent headmaster announced that she would be meeting her brother within three days, the knot of fear that rose in her chest almost suffocated.

Everyone was glad to go to their beds when Mrs Weasley announced that it was high time for everyone to get some sleep. Evie, exhausted from the day's events, couldn't wait to lay her head on her pillow, but no one else would close their eyes for hours. They all had too much to think – and talk – about.

* * *

Sirius lay on his bed, staring into the darkness. He didn't even try to sleep, he knew it was useless. How could he sleep after what had happened today? He was worried for Harry, of course. Stuck with muggles who despised him and awaiting trial for something that wasn't even a crime, Sirius knew that he must be in the blackest of moods. He wished he could find some way to reassure him, but it wasn't concern for his godson that kept him awake. 

Evie. This morning he had thought she was dead. _That's a lie, _He scolded himself. _This morning you didn't think about her at all._ He hated to admit it but it was true. He hadn't really thought of Evie since escaping Azkaban. It wasn't that he didn't care about what he thought had happened to her; the problem was that he cared far too much. Although he had hated not being able to care for Harry when he was incarcerated, he at least knew that he was alive and safe with people who would look after him.

Evie was a different matter. The memory of her was like a wound that was ripped open whenever he remembered the sound of her laughter, or how James and Lily had looked at her with such pride. To him, Evie's death meant that he had not only failed her, but her parents as well. So when he escaped the living hell he had been confined to for twelve years, he tried to push all memories of her to the very deepest level of his mind. He concentrated on Harry, on protecting him as best he could.

Now she was back. Through some miracle she was still alive. He knew that when his euphoria wore off slightly (he doubted that it would ever wear off completely) he would probably be furious that he had been kept in the dark all these years. (With Dumbledore, not with Evie. Never with Evie.) But for now he was just happy that he'd been handed this second chance he never dreamed he'd be given.

Sirius rolled onto his side and pulled the covers up higher, feeling his eyelids grow heavy. As he began to drift off to sleep, he thought only of Evie and how they were going to make up for lost time.

* * *

Ron sat in the chair in the corner of his room, his arms folded and his long legs stretched out in front of him. He stared longingly at his bed. More than anything he wanted to crawl under the warm blanket and get some well deserved rest, but he knew it was pointless to try and go to sleep. For the moment, anyway. He was waiting. 

He tapped his foot impatiently against the wooden floorboards and glowered up at the ceiling. Only a few moments went by before there was a loud _crack _and he returned his gaze to the bed. Making themselves comfortable on the saggy mattress, his twin brothers grinned at him.

"About time." Ron grumbled. "I thought you two were never going to show up."

"Poor ickle Ron." Fred rolled his eyes. "Have we kept you from your beauty sleep?"

At his side George sniggered. "I don't think any amount of sleep could fix his face."

Ron reached behind him and pulled out a pillow that looked like it had seen better days. He flung it across the room at George, who sent it flying back at him with a flick of his wand. It hit Ron square in the face, causing a spectacular eruption of yellow feathers.

Fred cleared his throat as George grinned in amusement. "Anyway," He said loudly, trying to be heard over Ron's spluttering as he spat out the feathers that had lodged themselves in his mouth. "We didn't come here to toy with you, as fun as that can be." Out of the corner of his eye he saw George drop him a wink. "What do you think about all this stuff with Harry's sister?"

"He won't like it." Replied Ron immediately, now picking feathers out of his hair.

"Why not?" George asked, frowning. "He's got no other family, why wouldn't he be happy to discover a long lost sister?"

"She could have Ginny's talent for making mucus vicious." Fred muttered.

"Good point." George conceded.

"The way I see it," Ron interrupted loudly, hoping to head off a discussion on Ginny's hexing skills (he'd been on the end of a particularly nasty one the previous day). "He's had a bad enough summer as it is, what with Cedric dying, You-Know-Who," A shudder ran through all three of them even though his name wasn't spoken. "Kidnapping him and now this stuff with the Dementors. He doesn't need any more hassle, and discovering a sister you never knew you had definitely qualifies as hassle."

"I don't know," Fred said quietly. "She seems nice enough to me."

George snorted. "You would say that, you've been eyeing her up all-" At a warning look from Fred George fell silent, but Ron wasn't so easily deterred.

An evil grin formed on his lips and he clapped his hands in delight. "I don't believe it, you fancy-"

His sentence trailed off as he felt his nose twitching. He quickly reached up to take hold of it, but it just shook even more violently. Fred rose from the bed, now wearing the evil grin that had graced Ron's face only a few seconds previously. "Poor little brother." He said, shaking his head. "Who do you think taught Ginny everything she knows?"

George stood up beside him and with those final words they disappeared into thin air, leaving Ron to combat the bat bogeys as best he could.

* * *

Mrs Weasley sat at the kitchen table. Her arms were spread out over the cold surface and her head was resting on them. Although she was sleeping peacefully, the puffy red skin around her eyes told all who cared to look that she had only recently stopped crying. As she slept, Dumbledore and Mr Weasley watched her sadly. 

"She's right you know." Mr Weasley murmured softly, trying not to wake his wife. "She may have overreacted but she's still right. Harry isn't going to take this well at all."

Dumbledore sighed. "Who can predict how the boy will react, Arthur? I'm inclined to agree with Molly, but then again Harry has surprised me more times than I care to remember."

"But this isn't like anything he's dealt with before."

"No it's not. That said, he faced much worse than this only a few weeks ago. He may handle this with more maturity than we imagine him to be capable of."

"You're sure, Albus?" Mr Weasley asked disbelievingly. "With all he's been through, he's still only a boy and his world is being turned upside down again."

"I'm sure of nothing, but we will find out soon. He will be collected before the week is out."


	6. Rude Awakenings

Mrs Weasley forked a generous portion of bacon onto the plate next to what looked like a small mountain of scrambled eggs. She squeezed on several slices of buttered toast and then picked the plate up, nervously eyeing the mound of eggs as it trembled precariously. Setting it safely down on a tray, she grinned and turned to the table, where a whole gaggle of people talked and laughed as they shoveled down breakfast.

"Ginny!" She called over the din. "Ginny!" Her eyes searched the faces at the table and when she discovered that her daughter wasn't amongst them she frowned. "Has anyone seen Ginny?"

"I think she's mending her shirt." Fred said, biting a large chunk out of a sausage. "Crookshanks got in last night and shredded it."

Ron stared at Fred in amazement. After Mrs Weasley had asked Ginny to take a breakfast tray up to Evie, he had seen Fred slip her a few sickles and tell her to make herself scarce. No matter how many times he heard him tell a blatant lie to their mother, he just couldn't get used to how easily he did it. When he tried to lie to her his cheeks turned an alarming shade of red almost instantly and he was discovered.

Mrs Weasley cursed Hermione's cat under her breath and looked pleadingly at Fred. "Would you be a dear and take Evie's breakfast up to her? I would ask Hermione but she's still got a full plate, and you've eaten all of yours."

Glancing at Fred's plate, which had been almost full only moments before, Ron wasn't surprised to see that its contents had mysteriously vanished.

Fred made a show of sighing loudly and dragging his feet as he went to collect the tray, but Ron caught the stupid grin that appeared on his face as he left the kitchen. He looked over at George, who rolled his eyes and shrugged before turning his attention back to his bacon.

* * *

Balancing the tray on one hand, Fred tapped lightly on Evie's door. After a few moments there was a loud thud, which was followed by a frantic scrambling. Evie appeared at the door, her cheeks flushed and her hair messy. Her puffy eyes and disarrayed clothes told Fred that she had only just gotten out of bed. 

His brow furrowed slightly. "I'm sorry to wake you."

Evie smiled sleepily at him and he felt his heart lurch in his chest.

"It's alright, I didn't mean to sleep this late. With everything that happened yesterday I was just worn out."

Fred nodded sympathetically and searched desperately for something to say. When Evie began to frown he realised that he had been silent for far too long. "Breakfast!" He burst out. "Mum sent me up to bring you breakfast – Sorry!" He had thrust the tray at her and had succeeded in spilling scrambled egg down the front of her shirt.

"It's okay." She reassured him, picking bits of egg off her clothes.

"No it's not, that was really stupid of me. Here, I'll help!" He set the tray on the floor and pulled his wand out of his back pocket.

Evie looked at it warily. "Really, it's not necessary. All it needs is a good scrub and it'll be fine."

"No, I'll do it." Fred insisted. _"Aguamenti!" _He had meant to conjure just enough water to get rid of the mark on Evie's shirt. What he actually produced in his nervousness was a jet of water so powerful that it knocked her off her feet and sent her flying across the room.

"_Frederick Weasley!" _

Fred turned to see his mother standing just a few feet away, her mouth hanging open. He looked at Evie lying on the floor in the middle of a pool of water, coughing and spluttering. Then he looked down at the incriminating wand in his hand. This didn't look good.

Mrs Weasley crossed the gap between them in an instant and grabbed him by his collar. "After everything I said to you last night!" She fumed. "I told you to make her feel welcome, I told you not to harass the poor girl with your ridiculous practical jokes! Then I turn my back for two minutes and you try to drown her! She's got enough to deal with as it is! Well, you just wait and see, young man, this will be a punishment you'll never forget…"

Mrs Weasley's voice faded away as she marched back down to the kitchen, dragging Fred after her. Evie lay motionless on the floor. She knew she should get up and dry off, but she ached all over from being thrown across the room. She sighed and closed her eyes.

Footsteps hurried up the hallway and then a shadow fell over Evie. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes. Sirius crouched over her, peering nervously into her face. One hand hovered over her, unsure of what to do. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Evie gave him the best smile she could manage after having had a small lake dumped on her. "I'm fine. It was just a bad wake up call."

"That's the spirit." Sirius grinned back at her and offered his hand, which she took gratefully. He pulled her gently to her feet, steadying her as she slipped on the wet floor. Once she was steady he pulled out his wand and flicked it at her, muttering under his breath. A warm feeling spread through her body and within a few moments she was completely dry.

"Thanks." She pulled the shirt tighter around her, enjoying the heat from Sirius's spell that still clung to it.

"No problem." He took her by the shoulders and steered her towards the door. "But we should still get you something warm to drink, and Dumbledore wants a word with you in the kitchen."

* * *

"I'm not quite sure I understand…" Evie said slowly. 

The kitchen was empty apart from herself, Dumbledore and Sirius. Dumbledore sat opposite Evie, his slender fingers curled around a mug of steaming tea. Sirius sat at her side, one hand resting protectively on her forearm. She hadn't detected any bad feelings between the two men but the look that Sirius was now giving Dumbledore suggested otherwise.

"I-"Sirius began only to be silenced by Dumbledore raising his hand. Despite the anger in his gaze, Sirius obeyed.

"What don't you understand?" He asked patiently, turning his attention back to Evie.

"Well, I thought you brought me here to meet Harry."

Dumbledore nodded. "That's right."

"So why don't you want him to know who I am?"

"I do want him to know, but not until the time is right. Harry is very… angry and confused at the moment. Recent events have pushed him to his limit. I'm afraid that a piece of news like this could prove to be too much for him."

Sirius made a noise that was close to a growl. "You're underestimating him."

"You're forgetting that he is still just a boy."

Evie interrupted before the argument could gain momentum. "Won't lying to him just make him angrier?"

"Exactly!" Sirius proclaimed triumphantly.

Dumbledore ignored Sirius and focused all of his attention on Evie. "I can't make you do this, but I ask you to trust me when I say that I have Harry's best interests at heart. I wouldn't keep this from him if I didn't think it necessary."

She stared at Dumbledore for a long time, anxiously biting on her bottom lip. Dumbledore remained silent, not wishing to rush her. Eventually she asked, "When do you plan on telling him?"

"Before he goes back to Hogwarts. You have my word on that. I feel it's wise to wait until after the Ministry hearing, when he doesn't have the threat of expulsion hanging over his head."

Evie sighed and nodded her agreement.

Dumbledore beamed, relief written all over his face. "Excellent. We'll have to think of an explanation for your presence, but we have two days in which to do that before her arrives."


	7. Nightmares

_**Sorry to everyone who's going crazy waiting for Harry to show up. It'll happen in the next chapter!**_

* * *

To say that Evie was having a bad day was an understatement. Quite aside from being soaked to her skin by an over enthusiastic Weasley and being told that her meeting with her brother had to be delayed, she had now been confined to her bedroom for the next few days. 

Dumbledore's plan to hide her true identity from Harry until after his trial had one outstanding flaw: Evie was identical to Lily in almost every way possible, apart from the raven hair that she had inherited from her father. Sirius had been the first to spot this problem, pointing out that he had recognised her almost instantly even though he believed her to be dead. Although Harry had no idea that he had ever had a sister, he would no doubt have difficulty swallowing the story that the woman with his mother's face was just another auror.

The only feasible solution was to hide Evie in her room, away from prying eyes. The announcement of this plan, made at the dinner table that evening, brought about an instant wave of protest. The younger Weasley siblings felt intensely curious about Evie and were annoyed that she was being snatched away before they could interrogate her properly. Ron and Hermione were the loudest in protesting that Harry had been kept in the dark all summer, and that keeping something else from him was unfair. Sirius, who hated the idea and had already made his feelings well known to Dumbledore, remained silent and tight lipped throughout the announcement. When Fred and George looked to him to help them argue against the headmaster's decision, he speared a roast potato with his fork and stared down gloomily at his food.

Even the older Weasleys, including Bill, voiced their misgivings before agreeing to trust Dumbledore. Of all the people there only Remus, who was looking very pale and tired, and Evie, who was feeling guilty that she was the cause of all the fighting, remained silent. Eventually everyone agreed, albeit reluctantly, to adhere to Dumbledore's plan and not mention Evie to Harry until it was deemed that the time was right.

It was Evie herself who made the decision to seal herself in her room straight away. It seemed to her that the longer she stayed with everyone the harder it would be to be alone. After working out a rota of who would bring up her daily meals and reassuring her that they would find times to sneak away and visit, she retired to her bed after yet another exhausting and confusing day.

As she lay her head on the pillow, she prayed for a dreamless sleep.

* * *

_Evie woke in her old bedroom, in the tiny house where she had spent most of her childhood. She was confused and terrified. Not by the sudden change in location, but by the thick, black smoke seeping under her bedroom door. Within a few seconds she had sprung off her bed, crossed the room and yanked the door open._

_A wall of smoke hit her. Taken by surprise, she gasped and gulped down a mouthful of it. It stung the back of her throat, making her choke. Her eyes suddenly felt very dry and she scrunched them shut. Arms out in front of her, she left her room and began to feel her way down the hall. _

"_Auntie? Uncle?" She cried, coughing whenever she opened her mouth. The further down the corridor she got, the thicker the smoke became. The swirling mass obscured her vision and she didn't notice that she'd reached the top of the stairs. She put a foot out in front of her and instead of meeting solid ground, it found only air. She tried to shriek but only succeeded in inhaling more smoke. Groping wildly for the banister, she desperately tried to maintain her balance. It was too late. She toppled forwards, crashing to the bottom of the stairs. _

_She lay on her back, watching the room spin around her. She tried to get back to her feet but dizziness and the sudden weakness in her limbs kept her down. Vaguely aware that someone was approaching her, she called out for her aunt and uncle again, pleading for help. _

_A figure towered over her. Evie didn't know who it was but it wasn't Mae or Aaron, that much was for sure. From their build she guessed it was a man, but she couldn't be sure as they were wearing a hooded robe that obscured their features. Fear leapt up inside of her and she tried to push herself away, but what little strength she had left was rapidly disappearing. _

_The figure extended a hand towards her. It inched forwards agonisingly slowly, getting closer and closer until –_

* * *

Evie woke in the unfamiliar bed at Grimmauld Place, a scream catching in her throat. She had no time to feel relief that the whole horrible experience had been just a dream. Relief was the farthest thing from what she was feeling. Although the blinding smoke had only been in her imagination, one part of the dream was terrifyingly real. 

A figure was hunched over her.

This time she was fairly sure that it was a man, although it was too dark to properly see what he looked like. His hand was reaching out to her and his fingers were almost touching her cheek; he seemed frozen that way, as if he was as afraid as Evie. She could feel his breath tickling her face.

All this Evie registered in the second it took her to start screaming. As soon as the piercing shriek ripped from her throat, the man sprung to life. He unfroze and raced across the room, pulling open the door and disappearing from sight.

A moment later there was a loud _crack _and Sirius and Remus appeared in the middle of the room, wands drawn and frantic expressions on their faces. Remus flicked his wand and light flooded the room as Sirius hurried to Evie's side.

"What's wrong?" He asked, crouching next to the bed.

"A man." She gasped. "I woke up and there was a man standing over me. I screamed and he ran."

Sirius turned to Remus. "I'll go." He growled, sprinting for the door. "You stay here!"

Remus nodded and hurriedly took his place next to the shaken Evie. He placed a gentle hand on her trembling shoulder and with his free hand rummaged in his coat pocket. "What happened?" He asked, producing a bar of chocolate and breaking her off a piece.

"I had a nightmare." Evie's voice shook as badly as her body. "When I woke up there was a man next to the bed. He was crouched over me and was about to touch my face, but when he realised I was awake he froze up. As soon as I shouted he left."

Remus frowned as he handed Evie her chocolate. "What kind of a nightmare?"

Evie nibbled on her chocolate and was glad to feel a warm glow spread from her stomach. "I was at my aunt and uncle's house, only they weren't there. The whole place was on fire. I couldn't see through the smoke and fell down the stairs, and then…"

"Then what?"

She felt like an idiot even as she said it. "A man stood over me and I tried to get away from him. I've been stupid, haven't I? It was just part of my dream." In the well lit room, accompanied by a friend and eating chocolate, she was forgetting the terror she felt on waking up and finding a stranger at her bedside. The whole thing was beginning to take on a fuzzy quality, seeming less and less real.

Remus smiled at her kindly. "Let's wait and hear what Sirius has found before making that decision."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Evie thoughtfully munching on her chocolate. When Remus went to put the rest of the slab away she said, "Maybe you should have some. You're looking a bit pale."

He grinned ruefully. "I don't think chocolate can help me."

"That time of month?"

He started slightly, staring at her in amazement. After a long silence he murmured, "Did Dumbledore tell you?"

Evie shook her head. "My aunt Mae is quite a gifted healer, and she taught me as much as I could hold in my head. When I saw you looking ill I tried to figure out what was wrong." Here she grinned apologetically at him. "Sorry about that, it's a habit. Anyway, I caught a whiff of that foul potion you drank last night and was pretty sure I recognised the smell. After that I just needed to look at the moon."

Remus now looked even more astounded. "You've come across the Wolfsbane potion before?"

She grinned and ate the last piece of her chocolate. "You'd be surprised at who you meet in the French countryside. It's not just chickens and cheese, you know."

He began to smile but quickly stopped. "You're not… afraid?"

"I turn into a raging beast once a month, too. Only I don't leave fur on the chairs."

Remus laughed as Sirius came back into the room. At the sight of Remus and Evie exchanging huge grins he stopped short. "Have I missed something?"

Remus shook his head. "Not really. What did you find?"

"Nothing. Whoever it was must have gone."

Evie cringed and shifted uncomfortably on the bed. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I don't think there was anyone." At his questioning look she explained, "I had a nightmare and I was terrified when I woke up. It was dark and I was still partly in the dream. I must have imagined it."

The concern remained on Sirius's face. "Are you sure?"

Evie nodded.

"That must have been a bad dream." He muttered. "Do you want us to stay with you? Or we could go down to the kitchen and make some tea?"

"No, I'm fine now."

"Really? Because I don't mind. I'm probably not going to get back to sleep now anyway."

Evie felt a warm glow that had nothing to do with the chocolate. It was nice to know that her newly found godfather cared about her. "I'm positive. I'll be asleep within a few seconds."

"You're absolutely sure?"

"She's fine!" Remus rolled his eyes and got up from the bed. He wished Evie goodnight before taking Sirius by the elbow and steering him from the room. As he was being escorted away, Sirius's eyes remained on Evie, worry clearly written on his face.

As the door shut behind them, Evie sagged. Despite what she had said she knew there would be no more sleep for her tonight. Alone once more, fear was beginning to creep back into her. Wanting to keep herself busy, she got up and headed for the small desk in the corner of the room. On it lay several pieces of parchment and a worn quill. The deadline for her latest instalment in _Witch Weekly _was only a few days away; she might as well work on it now.

She'd only been writing for a few minutes when there was an odd scratching noise at her door. Frowning slightly, she pushed the chair away from the desk and went to investigate. Upon opening the door, a mass of black fur streaked past her. Most people would be scared on being confronted by a dog that looked close to being a wolf. Evie, who had grown up in the countryside and who had regularly explored the surrounding forests, was delighted. This was just the company she needed.

She dropped to her knees and held her hand out to the dog. He trotted up to her and gave it a brief sniff before sitting down. His tail thumped loudly against the wooden floorboards. Evie took this as her cue to lavish him with attention.

"Why have I never seen you before, handsome?" She asked, tickling behind his ears. "How's a big thing like you managed to hide from me?"

The dog just wagged his tail harder and Evie chuckled slightly. "If I didn't know any better I'd say that Sirius sent you to look after me."

It was just for a second, but Evie could have sworn that the dog looked slightly shamefaced.

As she went back to her writing, the dog went and sat by the door. He stayed alert, his ears pricked up and his wide eyes roving around the room. He remained that way even when Evie went to bed and, though she didn't know it, only slipped away when he heard the first sounds of everyone waking the next morning.


	8. Revelations

A soft knock on the door woke Evie the next morning. She moaned and rolled out of bed, closing her eyes against the bright sunlight that streamed in through the window. Pulling an oversized shirt on over her night clothes, she stumbled to the door and made to pull it open. She stopped abruptly as she remembered yesterdays early morning soaking and opened it only a crack, peering outside warily. When she saw that it was Remus she grinned in relief and opened the door wide, inviting him in with a wave of her hand.

He stepped inside and offered the tray he was carrying to Evie, who took it eagerly when she realised it was her breakfast. She settled herself on the bed and began to eat her way through a pile of hot toast with jam. Lupin took the seat at the desk and surveyed her carefully.

"Did you sleep alright last night?"

Evie nodded and quickly swallowed a mouthful of toast. "Once I was sure no one was lurking under the bed."

"So you didn't have anymore late night visitors?"

"No, not unless you count the dog."

Remus's eyebrows shot up. He hastily rearranged his features to conceal his surprise and cleared his throat. "Dog?"

"Yeah a dog." Evie said, sipping her rapidly cooling tea. "Huge thing, but friendly enough. Is he Sirius's pet? I wouldn't be surprised if he sent him to guard me." She chuckled as she set aside her cup.

After a brief pause Remus hurried to join in the laughter. His laughter sounded slightly too loud and forced, making Evie look at him strangely. When he caught her glance he quickly said, "He's…Sirius's pet. He shouldn't let him wander around at night, though. He could have scared you."

"Oh no! I welcomed the company. He was so friendly." She smiled fondly. "Tell Sirius that he can send him to come and see me any time. Especially as I'm going to be stuck in here for the next few days." The smile faded as she looked around the cramped room with its grimy wallpaper and cobwebbed corners.

"That's what I came to talk to you about." Remus said, forgetting for a moment all about 'Sirius's Dog'. "We planned on collecting Harry tomorrow, but we've decided to bring it forward to tonight."

Evie frowned, instantly concerned. "Why? Has something happened?"

"No, he's fine." He rushed to assure her. "Or as fine as he can be considering the circumstances. Dumbledore is concerned that he will become reckless if left alone. We'll be leaving… Are you okay Evie?"

The colour had drained from Evie's cheeks. When meeting her brother had still been safely a day away she had felt no nervousness. Now, when he would be in the same house in only a few short hours, she had a very bad case of the butterflies. Her stomach, which had welcomed breakfast only a few minutes ago, now rebelled at the thought of food. The piece of toast in her hand might as well be cardboard. So overwhelmed by sudden anxiety, she hadn't even heard Remus's question.

"Evie?" He repeated.

"Hmmm?" She replied absently.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine. I'm fine. Just nerves, you know?"

Remus smiled sympathetically. He wanted to be able to stay and offer her some words of reassurance or perhaps some solid advice, but he had been chosen to be part of the team that would retrieve Harry. There were plans that needed to be made and memorised, and no doubt Moody would want to go through several dozen drills before departing.

Murmuring a goodbye, he got up and left the room, leaving Evie to her thoughts.

* * *

The knock that Remus used to wake Sirius was considerably less gentle than the one he had used to wake Evie. He hammered on the door until Sirius appeared, bleary eyed and frowning. 

"You nearly broke the door down, Moony. Something wrong?" He asked, unsuccessfully trying to startle a yawn.

"No. I just went to see Evie."

At the mention of her name Sirius's sleepy face suddenly became animated. "Is she alright?"

"Fine. Nervous about Harry arriving tonight, but apart from that fine. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

Remus did his best to keep his voice light. "Funny thing, she mentioned that a dog came to visit her last night."

Even in the dim light of the gloomy corridor, Remus could see the blush that crept over Sirius's cheeks.

"I was just worried about her, and she wouldn't let me stay to make sure she was safe." He muttered, eyes fixed firmly on the floor.

"So you decided to play the pet dog and sneak back into her room?"

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Look," Remus sighed. "Just don't let it happen again. It's not fair to do something like that, even if you do have her best interests at heart. Besides, if she's anything like her mother she'll hex you into next week for that kind of stunt."

* * *

The day crawled by agonisingly slowly for Evie. No one came to visit, not even the dog who had kept her company through the previous night. The only person she saw was Fred when he came to bring her lunch. She tried to talk to him, but he just turned a shocking shade of crimson and hurried from the room. 

She could hear the buzz of activity from downstairs. A steady stream of visitors came to the house throughout the day; through the grimy window she watched them enter the forbidding door, but saw none of them leave again. She longed for something to occupy her mind, but found that she couldn't settle to anything. The latest instalment of her weekly story lay unfinished on the desk, and various books were scattered across the room, lying where they had landed when she had cast them aside after only a few minutes reading.

Eventually the sky began to darken, bringing Evie's tension almost to breaking point. As soon as the first stars appeared she grabbed the desk chair and dragged it over to the window, which she managed to open after a brief struggle. She sat down and placed her arms on the window sill, and then nestled her head in them. Staring up at the night sky, she appreciated that this would be a beautiful sight if she wasn't scanning the horizon for broomsticks.

It was at this point that the dog slunk into the room. He trotted across the room and then reared up, placing his front paws on the window sill. He pushed his wet nose against Evie's cheek and gave her a tentative lick. Evie grinned and stroked his sleek, thick fur.

"Have you come to keep me company again?"

The dog wagged his tail briefly in response and then turned his attention to the sky, looking almost as worried as Evie.

* * *

Harry glowered at his two friends, who shifted awkwardly underneath his gaze. His throat was sore and dry, evidence of his recent loss of temper. Although Hermione looked on the brink of tears and Ron didn't exactly look comfortable, he found himself not caring. Neither of them had shown him any consideration over the last few weeks. 

Both of them had been staying at Grimmauld Place, the headquarters of the organisation dedicated to fighting Voldemort, since the start of the holidays. It didn't matter what they said, he knew they'd picked up more information than they were letting on. Information which they'd neglected to share with him. They'd been perfectly happy to let him fester in Privet Drive, even though he was more entitled to information about Voldemort than either of them.

A loud crack announced the entrance of Fred and George. Harry, who was normally happy to see the mischievous duo, felt his heart sink; the last thing he needed now was more people who had kept him out of the loop all summer. Fred dropped into a chair and said, "Lose a galleon and find a knut, Harry?"

As Harry's face darkened, Ron rushed to intervene before he could explode again. "Harry's found out about what's been going on here, and he's annoyed about being kept in the dark."

"Found out about her already, has he?" George muttered absently. "I can't say I'm surprised. I told Dumbledore keeping it a secret was a stupid…"He trailed off as he noticed the horrified looks on Ron and Hermione's faces. He cleared his throat and said weakly, "What's Harry angry about?"

"That we haven't written to him to tell him about the Order." Ron snarled through gritted teeth.

"That's what I meant! Told Dumbledore not letting you write to him was a dumb idea."

"You said 'her'." Harry said quietly.

"What?" George asked, praying that Harry hadn't just said what he thought he had.

"You said 'her'." Harry repeated, louder this time. "Who are you talking about? What's Dumbledore trying to keep a secret?"

Everyone exchanged nervous glances. A long silence followed in which Harry felt his temper begin to rise again. Just when he thought it would spill over, Ron blurted out, "Evie!"

"Ron!" Hermione hissed, glaring daggers at him.

Harry ignored her. "Who's Evie?"

"Ronald Weasley, don't you dare say anything." Hermione warned.

"How can I not tell him now?" Ron demanded. "How knows something's going on." He turned back to Harry and took a deep, steadying breath. "Dumbledore brought this girl, Evie, here a few days ago. We're not supposed to tell you about her."

"Why not?" Harry asked impatiently.

"Because… Well…" Ron sighed and steeled himself. "She's your sister."


	9. Anger and Betrayal

_**Sorry it took a while to update. Because of impending exams, updates might be a little while in coming for the next month or so, but I'll try and update as regularly as I can. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, it's really encouraging. **_

* * *

"Harry, please…" 

Hermione's voice was drowned out as a door flew open, slamming into the wall with an almighty crash. Harry took a step into the room and scanned it carefully, probing the dark corners with his eyes. After a few moments he stepped back out and headed towards the next closed door.

The Weasley siblings (including Ginny who had been attracted by all the noise) along with Hermione and Harry were crammed into a narrow corridor. All of them were silent. Harry was too intent on breaking down every door until he found his supposed sister to speak, and the others were afraid of getting their heads bitten off if they opened their mouths. The dusty floor was littered with splinters from where locked doors had been forced open, and the portraits hanging on the wall muttered to each other angrily, annoyed that their undisturbed slumber of years had been broken.

As Harry pushed open another door Hermione glared at Ron. _Do something! _She mouthed at him, but he just shook his head and looked away, doing his best to ignore her. She rammed her elbow into his ribs hard enough to make him wince and held up her wand. The message was clear: if he didn't do something now, she would make him pay later. Harry might be angry enough to throw a punch at him, but Hermione probably knew enough to be able to curse the nose off his face. He'd rather risk getting a black eye or two than face Hermione's wand.

Gulping, Ron stepped forwards. "C'mon mate, is this really helping…?" His voice died in his throat as Harry slowly turned towards him. Not even when the chance of living with Sirius had been snatched away from him, or when he'd returned from facing Voldemort clutching Cedric's body had he looked this furious. Ron prepared to duck, and behind him he heard everyone take a few steps backwards.

"Where is she?" Harry asked quietly.

Ron could feel Hermione's eyes boring into the back of his head. He knew she was willing him to keep his mouth shut; he could practically hear her voice in his head ordering him not to make things any worse than he already had. He raised a shaking hand and pointed down the corridor at the one door that was still shut.

"For Heaven's sake, Ron!" Hermione cried, burying her face in her hands. "Why can't you just stay quiet?" She shoved past him as she hurried after Harry, who was now striding down the hall. Rushing in front of him, she placed her hands on his shoulders. "Please Harry," She pleaded. "Don't do anything rash."

Harry just stared at her incredulously for a moment before pulling free and continuing on his way. He arrived in front of the door Ron had pointed out without being waylaid by anyone else. Everyone but Hermione realised it was pointless to try to stop him, and she was now being restrained by Ginny.

With only the briefest of pauses, Harry pushed open the door. He froze as he took in the scene inside the room. A young woman sat crossed legged on the bed, her face buried in a book. A large shaggy dog lay next to her, his head resting on one of her knees and his tail wagging contentedly. As the door flew open, she looked up in shock and Harry was given a clear view of her face. It was as if his mother had stepped out of one the wedding photographs that Hagrid had given to him. Lily's face stared up at him, every feature almost identical apart from the long black hair that came from his father. Until that point he hadn't really believed that he had a sister; in his mind were vague thoughts that an imposter had fooled everyone, and that he had to expose her as a fraud. But now there was no denying the truth of what he had been told; there was no mistaking that this woman was the daughter of Lily Potter.

Not knowing what to say to her, hardly even able to believe what he was seeing, he turned his attention to the dog. "What's going on Sirius?"

Until Harry spoke, Evie had been staring at him in a mixture of amazement and apprehension. Now she jumped as if someone had slapped her. She looked down at the dog that had been snoozing in her lap only moments before. "Sirius?" She whispered.

The dog leapt off the bed onto the wooden floor. Evie could hardly believe her eyes as he began to transform. The thick fur receded, revealing pale skin. Paws turned into hands and feet and he grew much taller. In a matter of seconds Sirius stood in the middle of the room with flaming cheeks, looking anywhere but at Evie.

"Sirius!" She cried, hurriedly leaving the bed and striding towards him. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Not now." He murmured. "We have bigger things to talk about."

She narrowed her eyes. A flush similar to Sirius's spread over her cheeks, but while his came from embarrassment hers was from anger. "We'll talk about this now!" She hissed. "I thought you were the family pet!" Humiliation fuelled her fury as she recalled the many things that she had done around him that she wouldn't have had she known he was anything other than a dog. She had cried in front of him, undressed in front of him, talked to him about how much she missed her aunt and uncle and how she worried about meeting Harry because she thought he couldn't understand her. "How could you?" She whispered, eyes filling with tears.

Sirius moved towards her, face full of concern. He tried to take hold of her but she pulled away from him roughly. Although he tried to hide it, his eyes gave away his hurt. "Please Evie." He begged. "Harry."

For a moment her outrage at Sirius's breach of trust had eclipsed her first meeting with her brother. Now she pushed past Sirius and moved over to Harry, who stared at her in frank astonishment. They faced each other in silence, neither one of them knowing what to say. It was Sirius who eventually broke the silence.

"Harry this is your-"

"Sister." Evie interrupted. "I'm your sister."

"That's what they said." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at his friends, who were all peering curiously around the door frame. "But you can't be. How can you be? I haven't seen any pictures of you. No one has ever spoken about you. I've never even heard your name before."

Sirius began to explain only to be interrupted by Evie once more. "I'll tell the story." She snarled, glancing at him briefly before returning her gaze back to Harry. "I was hidden. Years ago when our parents first found out they were being hunted, they sent me away in secret. When Voldemort killed them everyone thought you were the only survivor. They all thought I had died in the attack"

"No." Harry shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense. Voldemort was gone for years, why am I only meeting you now?"

"At first Dumbledore wanted everyone to believe me dead. I don't know why," She shrugged. "I guess he thought it was safer for me. After that, when all the Death Eaters were imprisoned or in hiding, my aunt and uncle just didn't want to let me go."

"Aunt and uncle?" Harry said sharply, looking at Sirius. "My dad had a brother or sister?"

"No." Sirius said softly. "They aren't real relations. Evie just calls them that."

"They're as good as family." Evie smiled sadly, trying to push aside the homesickness that suddenly rose up inside of her.

"That still doesn't explain what you're doing here now." Harry crossed his arms over his chest, in part to hide the fact that he was trembling slightly.

"I came of age in September last year. It was no longer my aunt and uncle's choice whether I met you or not. I would have come sooner, but I had to wait for you to finish your year at school."

Harry stared at her appraisingly. After long minutes of silence he shook his head. "No." He whispered. "No!" He said again, this time much louder. "This can't be true… It just can't be!" He turned on his heels and fled the room, pushing past everyone still gathered in the doorway. Hermione and Ron hurried after him, calling his name. Their voices grew faint as they rushed down the corridor. Fred, George and Ginny slunk away, leaving Evie and Sirius alone.

"I should really go and talk to him." Sirius muttered, running shaky fingers through his hair.

"You do that." Evie said, turning her back to him.

He walked over to her and tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder. He felt her muscles tense underneath his fingers, but she made no move to push him away like she had done before. "Evie, please…"

Evie quickly spun around to face him. He was horrified to see tears on her cheeks and reached out to touch her, but she slapped his hand away. He could almost feel his heart breaking as he saw the fury blaze from her eyes. This had been his chance; being given Evie back was a miracle that he had never expected to happen. He had vowed never to lose her again, and now it looked as if exactly that was going to happen because of a stupid mistake.

"Do you know how humiliated I am?" She whispered angrily. "How could you trick me like that? How could you be so cruel?"

"I didn't mean to upset you, I never wanted that." He said, but found he could offer no further explanation.

"Get out." She spat, turning her back on him once more.

"But-"

"Out!" She roared.

Realising that it would be useless to argue, he obeyed and left the room. He headed for the rickety stair case with a heavy heart; he doubted he would have any more luck consoling Harry.


	10. Midnight Heart to Hearts

Sirius knocked on Harry's door but then walked straight into the room, not bothering to wait for an invitation. Hermione and Ron sat next to a small fire that crackled in a blackened gate. Ron was slumped in a miserable looking chair, his hands covering his face, but Hermione sat erect, her eyes fixed on Harry. Harry himself stood next to the room's only window, determinedly facing away from everyone.

As Sirius entered the room Ron glanced up briefly before quickly averting his eyes. Even in the dim light Sirius could see how his cheeks flamed and how he shifted awkwardly in the chair. He'd already had a sneaking suspicion that Ron had been at least partially responsible for telling Harry about Evie days before he was supposed to find out, and now his clear discomfort confirmed it. Sirius couldn't bring himself to be angry with the boy; he hadn't wanted to keep Evie a secret in the first place. Hiding her away made her seem like she was something shameful and sordid, when nothing could be farther from the truth.

Hermione turned and offered Sirius a weak smile. He nodded in greeting and then gestured towards the door, silently asking them to give him so time alone with Harry. They understood and obeyed immediately, Ron being particularly keen to leave the room. As Hermione walked by him, Sirius laid a hand on her shoulder.

"No one downstairs knows what's happened." He murmured. "I came straight up here before telling anyone. They all had a meeting but it should be finishing by now, could you fill everyone in?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course."

Sirius glanced at Harry before bending low and whispering in Hermione's ear. "Make sure someone comes up to see Evie. She's upset and shouldn't be alone. Remus – that is, Professor Lupin- would probably be the best person. I'd do it but I don't think I'm her favourite person at the moment." He smiled sadly. Nodding towards Harry he added, "Besides, I'm needed here."

"I'll ask the Professor to speak to her."

"Thanks Hermione."

Hermione left the room and joined an impatient Ron who was waiting just outside. Even though she shut the thick door behind her Sirius could hear the excited conversation they launched into straight away. He waited for them to walk down the corridor, listening as their voices grew fainter and fainter until they eventually disappeared altogether. In the silence that followed he desperately tried to think of some comforting or wise words to offer his godson but found none. In the end he was saved from having to think of words that would probably sound like insincere sentiments by Harry.

"It can't be true." He said, echoing his earlier denials in Evie's bedroom. He kept his back firmly turned to Sirius as he spoke and his eyes fixed on the silvery moon, which hung high in the sky. Although he tried to keep his voice hard, Sirius thought he could detect a slight tremble in it which he couldn't quite hide with the false confidence with which he made his statement.

Sirius took the seat at the fire which Hermione had vacated only moments before. "Why can't it be?"

Now Harry turned and stared at Sirius. "It just can't be! If she's really my sister than why have I never heard of her? The Dursleys never mentioned her, _never! _And in all the years I've been at Hogwarts, I've never heard Dumbledore or Professor Lupin or you even mention her name!" By the time he finished he was panting slightly and his fists were clenched and shaking at his sides.

Sirius sighed deeply. "Do you think that Remus, Dumbledore and I are lying to you?"

"What?" Harry spluttered. "No, no, of course I don't."

"Then do you think she has somehow tricked us?" He raised an amused eyebrow. "Deceived us into believing that you have a sister when in fact you never did? From what I know of her, she's a powerful witch but not that powerful."

"No, I don't think that… I just… I don't know what to think." Harry sank into the seat opposite Sirius and buried his face in his hands. Sirius felt a fleeting wish to have the angry, shouting Harry back. He would much rather deal with the raging version than the defeated boy that sat in front of him. He wanted to go over and comfort him but repressed the urge; the thing Harry needed the most now was an explanation.

"I know how you must feel-"

Harry snorted and shook his head.

"No, really I do." Sirius insisted. "I'm not claiming to be going through what you are, but this whole thing came as a shock to me too. Until a few days ago I thought Evie was dead."

"I didn't even know she existed."

Sirius felt slightly encouraged by this. It wasn't exactly acceptance that Evie was his sister, but at least he seemed to be coming around to the idea. "I can try to explain as much as I can, I'll tell you the parts of the story that I know." He sighed. "Dumbledore would be the best person to tell you everything, but as he's not here I'll have to do."

Harry looked up and locked eyes with Sirius. He stared at him in silence for long minutes that felt like hours to Sirius. Eventually he nodded and sat back in the chair. "Alright. Tell me everything."

Taking a deep breath, Sirius began. "Your mum fell pregnant with Evie not long after we all left Hogwarts. Shortly after she was born they got married and three years later you came along."

"She's eighteen?" Harry interrupted.

"Seventeen. But it's her birthday on…" Sirius trailed off, trying to remember the exact date. "The first of September."

Harry nodded. "Carry on."

"When your parents found out that Voldemort was hunting them they chose to send Evie away. None of us knew about it, the whole thing was arranged by Dumbledore in secret. So when they were murdered everyone thought that she'd been killed as well."

"Why didn't Dumbledore tell anyone?"

"At first I think he feared for her safety. Even though Voldemort was gone his Death Eaters, the ones who avoided Azkaban, still lurked around. He didn't want any of them to harm her." He broke off, shuddering slightly at the thought of what would have become of Evie if she had fallen into the hands of one of Voldemort's faithful followers. "After a few years Dumbledore finally deemed it safe to reunite you, but there was a problem."

"What?"

"The people who'd taken her in refused to let her go."

Harry's brow furrowed. "So? How could they stop Dumbledore?"

"It wasn't a matter of power or strength." Sirius frowned. "There wasn't a battle, there wasn't even an argument. Dumbledore respected them deeply for caring for Evie when it could have cost them their lives, and so he allowed them to keep her."

"So why is she here now?"

"As she's already told you, she's of age. She wanted to meet you and no one could stop her."

Harry crossed his arms and looked sceptically at Sirius. "There's still a lot that doesn't make sense."

"Like what?" He asked patiently.

"Like the fact that I've never even heard of her before. Even if you thought she was dead, why wouldn't you tell me about her?"

Sirius winced as he recalled how he and Remus had come to the decision not to mention Evie to Harry. Once they had realised that his muggle aunt and uncle had never seen fit to tell him about his sister, they had decided it would be kinder not to enlighten him about her. What was the point, they said, of telling him about another family member who had been murdered and snatched away from him? Why introduce more tragedy to the life that had already been blighted by unhappiness?

"I had my reasons." Sirius murmured. "We all did."

Harry just rolled his eyes and said nothing.

"Listen," Sirius sat forward, staring intently at Harry. "I know you know the truth; you know that she is your sister." Harry opened his mouth to protest but Sirius pressed on, not giving him the chance to argue. "There's no denying it. She looks too much like Lily to pretend that she's lying. I know you're angry with her, but you have to let that anger go."

"But-" Harry began.

"No." Sirius interrupted. "She doesn't deserve your anger. Perhaps Remus and I do for not telling you about her; perhaps Dumbledore does for keeping her a secret for so many years. But she's done nothing wrong."

Harry remained silent, preferring to stare into the dying fire rather than look at Sirius.

"Harry." Sirius said gently. "Harry." He repeated, louder the time to make sure he had his attention. Harry reluctantly turned his gaze to Sirius. "I know it's hard for you, but don't push her away. She's the only family you have left."

* * *

Remus held the dozing Evie in the crook of his arm. He laid her down gently on the bed and then dropped down heavily onto the chair near the desk. It had been a long couple of hours full of tears and angry recriminations (although not against him). 

At first Evie had been reluctant to let him in, preferring to hide alone in her room. After he'd managed to persuade her to talk to him he'd found out all about what had happened with Harry, as well as her discovery that Sirius was an animagus. As she told him about everything that had happened she kept blinking back tears, but they soon got the better of her and she ended up sobbing into his shoulder, soaking his worn jacket with her tears.

As she cried, Remus pushed down a silent fury. He wasn't angry at Harry, whose reaction was perfectly understandable considering the circumstances, but at Sirius. He'd warned him about the dangers of deceiving Evie like he had, but he'd carried on doing it anyway and now Remus was having to deal with the consequences.

Eventually Evie cried herself into a fitful sleep, leaving Remus to go and find Sirius and give him the talking down he deserved. He got up off the rickety chair and headed out of the room, pausing with his hand on the door as he cast one last worried look over his shoulder at Evie.

* * *

Evie had been asleep for less than an hour when she was woken by a persistent knocking on her door. At first she was confused, having no recollection of getting into bed or falling asleep, but when she discovered that she was covered with Remus's jacket she realised what must have happened. She blushed slightly as she recalled her earlier conversation with him. It wasn't like her to cry in front of her closest friends, let alone a complete stranger. 

Stumbling across the dark room, she prayed fervently that it wouldn't be Remus at the door; she couldn't quite cope with facing him just yet. She yanked open the door and then froze in surprise. She tried to voice a greeting but all her throat, hoarse from sobbing, could manage was a small croak.

"Hi." Harry said, staring down at the floor. When Evie still couldn't say anything he raised his eyes to meet hers. "I think we need to talk."


	11. Photographs and Heirlooms

An hour later, Harry and Evie were both sitting at the kitchen table. They were sitting side by side; at first the gap between them had been great, but as they spoke they had unconsciously moved closer. Both of them had almost drained cups of tea and between them lay a plate, empty apart from a few crumbs.

On the table lay two books, both thick and leather bound. One of them was open and its pages were full of photographs. Most of them showed Lily and James Potter smiling as they embraced each other, but in some they were accompanied by one or both of their children. Several showed either Harry or Evie on their own, and fewer still showed them together. The other book seemed ancient, and the yellowed pages looked as if they'd fall apart at the slightest touch. This one contained page after page of beautiful illustrations and reams of elegant, archaic handwriting.

Harry had come to Evie looking for evidence. He'd asked for something, anything, that could prove to him that she was his sister, and not an impostor who had somehow managed to fool much older and wiser wizards. Evie had decided to show him the only possessions she had that had once belonged to her parents: a photo album and an old family heirloom of her father's, a book that detailed the legends of the founders of Hogwarts.

Harry picked up a photo and studied it carefully. In it Evie sat in an enormous armchair, her arms wrapped around her baby brother who Lily had placed carefully in her lap. "Is this all you have of them?" He asked. "I expected… Well, I don't know what I expected."

Evie nodded. "This is all I have. Remember that they didn't know what was going to happen. I'm sure if they'd have known it was going to be the last time they ever saw me, they would have given me a few more things to remember them by."

Without speaking, Harry lay the photo gently back in its place. Closing the photo album, he said slowly, "Alright. I think I believe you."

Evie had to restrain herself from throwing her arms around him. "Thank you." She smiled. "Look, I don't expect a miracle. I don't want us to suddenly be friends over night. I know how hard-." She broke off and shook her head. "No," She resumed. "No I don't know how hard this is. At least I always knew I had a brother. This is completely new to you."

Harry returned her smile with a broad one of his own, mostly out of relief that she didn't expect a touching reunion. It faltered when Evie added, "I don't suppose this trial is making anything easier either."

He felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. The chaos of the night – escaping the Dursleys, flying over London on his Firebolt and then finding out about Evie – had provided a convenient distraction from thinking about his impending trial and his possible expulsion from Hogwarts. Now that things were beginning to settle down all of his anxiety came flooding back.

Even in the gloomy kitchen Evie noticed him pale. "Harry?" She leant forwards, peering into his face. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." He replied, mentally shaking himself. "Just a bit nervous."

"About the trial?"

He frowned slightly, silently wishing to himself that she'd stop saying the 'T' word. "Yeah."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." She said confidently. When Harry raised his eyebrows she continued, "No, really. From what Hermione has told me about it, and believe me she's told me enough to fill several of those," She pointed at the enormous book on the table. "You'll get off without a problem."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle as he imagined Hermione ploughing through every book about wizarding law she could get her hands on, and then boring everyone in Grimmauld Place with the details of what she'd discovered. He felt a sudden rush of guilt at how he had treated both her and Ron earlier in the night. Both of them had probably spent all of their time since the start of summer worrying about him. They didn't deserve to be shouted at, especially when they hadn't done anything wrong.

When he came to think about it Evie hadn't deserved it either. But he still felt too angry, too hard done by, to bring himself to apologise to his friends or his new found sister.

"I hope so." He muttered, pulling himself from his remorseful thoughts. Evie smiled before turning her attention to the photographs scattered over the surface of the table. They had been pulled out of the album and then set aside by Harry during his first investigation of them. Now Evie began to pick them up and set them back in their rightful places.

Harry glanced up and noticed that grey light was seeping in through the kitchen's one tiny window. A quick look at his watch told him that it was past six. Soon everybody would be awake and going about their business, and he was yet to have any sleep.

"You go." Evie said, as if reading his mind. "I'll tidy everything away."

"Are you sure?"

Evie nodded and Harry rose hesitantly from the table. He wanted to stay and talk to her more, or at least help her clean up the mess that he had mostly been responsible for making, but his eyes already felt heavy and he doubted that he'd be able to stay in the warm, dimly lit room much longer without dozing off. "Thanks." He muttered, making his way out of the room. At the door he paused and turned. "Could we talk some more about this later? There's a lot I need to know."

"Of course. There's some stuff I need filling in on as well." Evie looked up, beaming at him. "Sleep well." 

"You too." He left the room and made his way up the long flight of stairs to where he knew a comfortable bed waited for him. He wished for a deep and dreamless sleep, with no troublesome nightmares about Dementors, trials or long lost relatives.

Evie returned to the album, making sure that the photographs were put back in the correct order, underneath the right headings. She soon became so engrossed in the work that she didn't notice someone slip into the kitchen. She only realised that she wasn't alone when they flopped down onto the bench opposite her.

"It's a little late for this, isn't it?"

"I was showing them to Harry. He wanted to see them." Evie replied reluctantly. She wanted to ignore him, but she doubted he'd just give up and go away.

Sirius grinned. "He's come around, has he? Good. I had a chat with him earlier."

"Thank you." She said stiffly, her eyes fixed on the photographs.

Sirius's smile faded. He waited patiently, hoping that she would say something or at least look at him, but she did neither. "Evie," He said eventually. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Evie slammed the album shut and picked it and the other book up. Holding them to her chest, she got up and headed to the door.

"Evie, please!" Sirius cried, hurrying after her. He laid a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off and spun around to face him, her eyes blazing.

"I'm grateful to you for speaking to Harry for me." She said, her voice quiet and angry. "But that doesn't mean I've forgiven you. You tricked me and lied to me and humiliated me."

"I didn't mean-"

"But you did!" She hissed. "Now I'm going to bed. Goodnight Sirius."

"But-"

"Goodnight Sirius." She repeated forcefully, speaking over the top of his words. She turned and strode out of the kitchen, leaving Sirius alone.


	12. A Chance Meeting

The next few days flew by for the inhabitants of Grimmauld Place. Everyone was surprised when, the afternoon after Harry's arrival, he and Evie sat side by side at the kitchen table for lunch, but no one mentioned their shock for fear of disturbing the fragile peace that had descended over the house.

At first Harry had been determined to maintain a stony silence with everyone except Evie, who he was just too curious about to ignore, but as the hours slipped by he felt his resolve cracking. Despite his impending trial he was happy for the first time in weeks. He was so thrilled to be back amongst people like himself, people who didn't treat him like a carrier of some flesh rotting plague, that he could almost forget that they had kept him in the dark all summer and had tried to conceal Evie from him.

Both Harry and Evie were kept immensely busy. Harry by Mrs Weasley, who was determined to have the house safe and sparkling before she returned to The Burrow on September 1st, and Evie by the need to finish her latest instalment in _Witch Weekly _before the rapidly approaching deadline was upon her. Between their work, eating the huge meals prepared by Mrs Weasley and trying to eavesdrop on the meetings that took place almost nightly in the kitchen, Harry and Evie had little time to talk, but they always found at least half an hour out of every day to tell each other about their lives.

At the end of each day Harry would go to Evie's room, where they would look at the photographs and James's heirloom as they spoke. Evie told Harry about her aunt Mae and uncle Aaron and her home in the Aquitaine region of France on a small farm that reared horses. She told him that she had received her magical education from her talented magical guardians, as well as how she had been kept away from not only witches and wizards of her own age, but also the local muggles. The only time she really saw anyone apart from Mae and Aaron was when they had visitors, or when she went with Aaron to help at a local vineyard for the day.

In turn, Harry told her about his miserable upbringing at the hands of the Dursleys, the muggles who tormented him at the local school he was sent to and Dudley's bullying. Then he recounted how he had discovered that he was a wizard and finding out about what really happened to his parents. He spoke of befriending the Weasleys and Hermione and of his adventures at Hogwarts. At one point he found himself almost about to tell her about Cedric being murdered in front of his eyes and witnessing the rebirth of Voldemort, but he stopped himself at the very last moment. Those memories were still far too fresh and raw for him to be able to talk about them.

The only thing he was really reluctant to talk about was the trial. Whenever Evie brought it up he winced and quickly changed the subject, seizing on the first thing that came to mind to distract her. Evie quickly desisted in trying to get him to talk about it; Harry was considerately not mentioning her riff with Sirius, and she felt it only fair that she returned the favour by not making him talk about anything that he didn't want to. In the end she closed the topic by coyly mentioning that, with her instalment for _Witch Weekly _finished, she was now free on the day of the trial, should he feel like he wanted some company. Harry accepted her offer gratefully, although he tried not to appear too eager, and neither of them brought up the subject again.

For three of Grimmauld Place's residents the days dragged by unimaginably slowly. Two of them were George and Ron, who were convinced that at any moment Dumbledore would burst in and hex them into oblivion for spilling the secret less than an hour after Harry arrived. George tried to take a philosophical view, pointing out that nothing Dumbledore could do could be worse than what their mother had already done, but both of them were still terrified. After a couple of days had gone by and there was no sign of Dumbledore they began to relax, but they still froze every time they heard the doorbell.

The other person was Sirius. Despite numerous attempts to apologise to her, Evie was still furious and hurt and doing her very best to ignore him. Not only that, but she wasn't the only one who wasn't talking to him. Remus, who had explicitly warned Sirius of the dangers of what he was doing and had elicited a promise from him that he would desist, was angry that he had been lied to and ignored. He kept finding excuses to leave the house on small errands and when he was there he spent most of his time with Evie, both consoling her and talking about Harry.

To Sirius's horror, he felt more than a twinge of jealousy every time he saw the two of them with their heads together, deep in discussion, or when Remus slipped off to visit Evie in her room after Harry had left her for the night. It should be _him _who she was talking to. _Him _who she should be sharing her excitement with, _him _in who she should be confiding her hopes for her relationship with Harry. Every time they smiled at each other, or laughed together, or shared a brief but affection hug goodnight, it was a bitter reminder of what he had lost and how he had lost it.

Even worse than the growing closeness between Evie and Remus and their (at best) cool attitude towards him, was the fact that every day that past brought them all closer to September 1st. Soon Sirius would be alone again. Harry and his friends would return to Hogwarts, the Weasleys would go back to the Burrow and Remus and most of the other members of the Order would be spending more and more time on the missions assigned to them by Dumbledore. As for Evie – well, who could say what she would do? What reason would she have to stay in the gloomy, morbid house of his ancestors once Harry had returned to school? In the beginning Sirius had hoped that maybe he would be reason enough, that maybe she would want to get to know him as much as he wanted to know her. But now things had changed. The hope that she would miraculously forgive him and decide to stay behind in only a couple of days was more than frail.

As a result of his morbid thoughts Sirius spent most of his time locked in what had become Buckbeak's bedroom, in which he kept a small, ragged calendar underneath the hippogriff's bedding of torn up sheets and pillow cases. At midnight every night he reluctantly crossed off another day, looking at the small square that marked September 1st with a dread that grew with every day he crossed off. Before he knew it he had marked off August 11th, reaching a landmark in the time he had left before everyone left him. August 12th. Harry's trial.

* * *

Evie smiled sleepily at Harry as he trudged into the kitchen and dropped down heavily into his usual seat at the table. He tried to return it with a confident grin of his own, but it looked more pained than anything else. She pushed a plate of butter soaked toast towards him but just looking at it made his stomach turn. 

The time for their departure arrived far too quickly for Harry. Soon everyone – or rather, everyone who was awake at this ungodly hour of the morning – crowded around him, slapping his back and shaking his hand, assuring him that he'd be cleared of all charges and back at home eating celebratory pie and custard before he knew it. Mr Weasley shooed everyone away and ushered Harry and Evie out into the corridor and then over to the door.

Just as Evie was stepping outside, Mrs Weasley grabbed her by the sleeve and pulled her back in. "Just a moment, Arthur." She called to her husband, who looked at her curiously. "I need a quick word with Evie. You go on ahead." Mr Weasley nodded and he and Harry began to walk slowly down the pavement.

"Here, dear." She thrust a lump of cloth into Evie's arms. "Put this on."

Evie raised her eyebrows as she unravelled the cloth. It was a black hooded cloak, probably thick enough to keep her and several friends warm in the arctic. She looked up at the sky, already a clear blue before seven in the morning. She turned her gaze back to the cloak and then to Mrs Weasley. "Not that I don't appreciate your concern, but it's the middle of August. I think I'll be fine in my jacket."

Mrs Weasley shook her head. "You need to wear it. It's Dumbledore's orders. He told me not to let you go without it."

Evie opened her mouth to argue but then snapped it shut again. It was too early in the morning to bicker, and they didn't have the time either. She certainly wasn't going to make Harry late for his trial. She nodded her consent and a smiling, clearly relieved Mrs Weasley helped her put the heavy cloak on.

"Make sure you keep the hood up." Mrs Weasley ordered, tugging it up over her head. "Dumbledore was very clear about that." She finished arranging the uncomfortable garment and then gave Evie a gentle push out of the door. "Tell Harry good luck from me."

"Will do! Good bye!" Evie called over her shoulder as she raced up the pavement, struggling to catch up to Harry and Mr Weasley.

Harry heard her footsteps and looked behind to greet her. He did a double take as he took in her new outfit. "What on earth are you wearing?" He suppressed a chuckle as she fell into step beside him.

"Don't ask." She grumbled.

* * *

A little over an hour later and Evie and Mr Weasley were waiting anxiously in the corridor outside of the room Harry was being tried in. Evie was furious; she knew enough about this whole situation to realise that the time of Harry's trial had been changed deliberately to catch him out. Although Mr Weasley didn't say anything about it, he was a burning red around the ears and his fists clenched convulsively at his sides. 

Shortly after Harry had entered the room alone, they had been relieved to see Dumbledore stride in after him. At least now he wouldn't have to face whatever awaited him on his own. A little while after that an old woman had hobbled in. Evie hadn't quite known what to make of this, but Mr Weasley looked happy so she had to assume it was a good thing.

"How long do these things normally last?" Evie asked, breaking the silence that had hung between them since Harry had left.

Mr Weasley opened his mouth to answer but at that moment the doors swung open. Harry stumbled out, looking rather dazed.

"Harry!" Mr Weasley cried, rushing over to him. "What happened?"

"Cleared of all charges!" Harry grinned.

Mr Weasley sagged with relief and Evie threw her arms around Harry's neck. Harry laughed and hugged her back, feeling the happiest he had been for a long time. A long line of witches and wizards began to trail out of the doors behind Harry. Mr Weasley asked Harry quiet questions about them, but Evie didn't hear. Her attention was elsewhere.

A tall, elegantly dressed man stood close by. Long silvery white hair framed regal features that would have been beautiful if they weren't twisted in cruelty and silent mockery. Evie felt a shiver run down her spine that was nothing like the ones the women in her romance stories experienced.

Now he had noticed Mr Weasley. Although he spoke softly, his tongue was every bit as wicked as Evie had imagined. He turned his attention from Mr Weasley to Harry, and she realised that he was insulting him.

Stepping forward, she hissed through gritted teeth, "Don't speak to him like that."

The man turned to Evie, amusement in his eyes and a stinging comment clearly on the tip of his tongue. But something stopped him before he could speak. His eyes widened as they fell on Evie and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable and exposed, as if this man could see right through her into her thoughts. She realised that her hood was down, having been pushed off when she hugged Harry. She hurried to pull it back up again, to hide herself from him, but it was too late. He was already turning away, a sly grin pulling at the corners of his lips.

"Come, Minister." He murmured to the short, haughty looking man beside him. "We shall continue our discussion in somewhere more private."

The Minister agreed and the two quickly disappeared down the corridor. Mr Weasley grumbled something under his breath that Mrs Weasley wouldn't have approved of before turning to Harry and saying, "Forget about Malfoy, Harry. We have some celebrating to do!"


	13. A Visit

"You're cheating."

Evie's eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip as if to keep it from trembling. "George!" She gasped. "How can you accuse me of something like that?"

George raised an eyebrow. "Alright. If you're not cheating, then why is the front of your robe dancing?"

Evie blushed and quickly crossed her arms over herself, but George wasn't to be fooled. He held out his hand. "Hand them over."

"Fine!" She spat, digging into her pocket and bringing out the knights and rooks that had mysteriously gone missing from George's side in the first few minutes of their game of wizard's chess. They jostled in her hand, eager to be free of the confines of her robe.

"You're an awful loser, you know." George commented as he took his pieces back. "Still, can't say I'm not impressed. I didn't even notice you swipe them off the board."

Evie smiled sweetly. "What can I say? I have many talents."

George chuckled as he rearranged the pieces for a fresh game. "No cheating this time?"

"I'll be good, I promise."

As they began to play, George couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable. Two pairs of eyes were burning holes in the back of his head. On one side of the room Fred was pretending to read a newspaper. George knew he was pretending for two reasons: firstly, Fred never read anything unless he was forced to by McGonagall or another equally scary teacher. Secondly, he had been looking at the same page for at least the last hour. What he was actually doing was making sure that George and Evie's game was completely innocent, and taking every opportunity to shoot threatening looks at his brother.

The other person making George feel awkward was Sirius. From his position in an armchair he stared jealously at George, looking as much a sulky teenager as Fred.

"When's Harry's party, then?" George asked, hoping that the answer would be 'Soon'. In celebration of his being cleared of all charges, Mrs Weasley insisted on throwing a party in Harry's honour.

"When he wakes up, I suppose." Evie replied absently, concentrating on her next move. Harry, who'd had precious little sleep the previous night because of worry, had gone to bed as soon as they'd got back from the Ministry and hadn't been seen since.

"He's still asleep?" George frowned, glancing at his watch. It was almost six; he'd been asleep for hours.

"I'll go and wake him." Sirius sighed, pushing himself out of his chair. With one last mournful glance over his shoulder at Evie and George, he left the room and headed down the corridor.

George waited until he was sure that Sirius was out of earshot before muttering, "He's not a bad bloke, y'know, Sirius."

Evie's lips compressed and she said nothing.

"He's always good for a laugh." George pressed on.

"I know that." Evie snorted. "I was the butt of one of his joke."

George shook his head. "He was just looking out for you, and he's been wandering around the place with a face like a smacked behind ever since you started ignoring him."

Evie lowered her eyes to the board, slightly shamefaced. "Maybe." She muttered, before looking back up. "Do you mind if we call it a day? I should probably see if your mum needs any help with the food."

"Sure, but we're picking the game up tomorrow. I'm not letting you off that easy." He dropped her a wink as he began to pack away the pieces.

"Whatever you say." Evie laughed and then exited the room, heading to the kitchen.

She'd only been gone a few seconds when George was hit over the back of the head with a balled up newspaper. "What the hell are you playing at?" He demanded, rounding on Fred and rubbing his newly made sore spot.

"What am _I _playing at?" Fred cried. "What about you? All that stuff about Sirius being fantastic! Couldn't you have said something nice about _me_?"

* * *

Lucius Malfoy wrinkled his nose in distaste as he looked up at the decrepit mansion. He detested having to visit this place. The dust and dirt, in some places inches thick on the floor, always soiled the bottoms of his robes and clung to his skin and hair. He knew that when he got home Narcissa would brush the filth off his clothes with her lips drawn tight and her eyes narrowed, but she wouldn't complain. Not that she kept silent by choice: even couples who had been married for years couldn't pass harsh comments on the Dark Lord between each other. It was far safer for both herself and her husband if Narcissa kept her grumblings to herself. 

Removing his soft leather glove, Lucius tapped gently on the front door, half expecting it to fall down at his touch. By some miracle it remained upright and after a few moments footsteps could be heard on the other side. The door opened to reveal a short, stout man. "Who's there? State yourself!" He ordered, trying to keep the quiver out of his voice.

Lucius sighed. "It is I, Lucius Malfoy, come to see my Lord."

"Lucius!" The man's voice was suddenly fawning. "What a pleasant surprise. We didn't expect to see you for at least another week."

"Out of the way, Wormtail." Lucius pushed past him into the dark hallway. "I did not come here to see _you._"

"Of, of course not." Wormtail stammered, cowering under Lucius's icy gaze. "I'll take you to him right away."

Wormtail scurried down the corridor, beckoning for Lucius to follow. He led him up a rickety flight of stairs (which were in as dire a state of repair as the rest of the house) and then into a gloomy bedroom, where a smoky fire died quietly in the corner. Wormtail hurried towards an armchair where a man sat with an ancient tome spread across his lap.

"My Lord," Wormtail squeaked. "We have a gue-"

But before Wormtail could get his words out Lucius had elbowed his way past him and dropped into a low bow in front of the man. "My Lord." He murmured, his eyes lowered to the man's feet.

"Lucius." Voldemort hissed, closing the book and setting it aside. "Why do you burst in on us unannounced?"

"I bring news, my Lord. Important news."

A smile flickered briefly over Voldemort's face before disappearing. "We shall see. What is this news?"

Lucius cleared his throat. "I went to Potter's trial, as you told me. I couldn't gain access to the courtroom, so I was forced to wait outside. After a while…"

Voldemort let out a low hiss of annoyance. "I do not have the time for this. I shall find your news for myself."

No sooner had the words left Voldemort's lip than Lucius felt something slam into his mind. He didn't try to stop it: he had nothing to hide from his Lord, and if he did he had not the skill to conceal his treacherous thoughts. Voldemort stormed through his head, discarding all the useless pieces of information and memories until he came across an image that was burned into Lucius's mind. A face, so familiar, that neither of them had ever expected to see again.

Voldemort left Lucius's mind abruptly, causing him to fall to his knees with the shock and brutality of the invasion. Wormtail rushed forwards to help him but Lucius batted him away, preferring to sit in the muck on the floor than have the slimy double crosser touch him. A long silence followed, in which Voldemort closed his eyes and pressed his tapered fingers to his temples.

"Is what I saw in your slippery mind true, Lucius?" Voldemort eventually asked quietly.

"Of course, my Lord." He gasped, still reeling from shock and disorientation. "I would not lie to you."

Voldemort gave a low chuckle. "You would, Lucius, if there was an advantage in it for you. But there is no advantage to be gained here. I believe you are telling the truth."

Lucius let out a sigh of relief as Voldemort turned to Wormtail. "Summon three of our most skilled, our craftiest and cleverest." He ordered. "Do not return to me with untalented brutes, Wormtail, or you shall suffer my displeasure."

"Right away, my Lord." Wormtail cried, hurrying from the room as fast as his legs would carry him.

"What would you have me do, my Lord?" Lucius asked quietly.

"Find her." Voldemort said, staring him hard in the eye. "The three who Wormtail fetches will hunt for her, and they will report their findings to you. You, in turn, will report them to me." He leant forward and gripped his shoulder with a cold hand. Lucius did his best to fight the shudder that rose involuntarily within him. "None of your other duties are as important as this one, Lucius. _You must find her._"

* * *

Harry woke with a scream caught in his throat. He flailed his arms, lashing out at whoever held him. 

"Harry!" Sirius shouted. "Calm down, it was just a nightmare."

Recognising his godfather's voice, he relaxed and stopped fighting, becomming limp in Sirius's arms. He lay still, panting for breath.

"What happened?" Sirius asked.

"Voldemort." Harry replied flatly. "I don't know about what or why, but he's very excited."

"Excited about what?"

"I said I don't know!" Harry snapped. "But whatever it is, it can't be good for us."


	14. The Boggart

Sirius rolled up his sleeves and stepped into his old bedroom, his face set in grim determination. He'd been trying to avoid this room since returning to Grimmauld Place, preferring instead to sleep on the dusty sofa in the living room or with Buckbeak (or with Evie, until he'd been found out). The place brought back too many memories of his younger years when he had lived here with his parents. Whenever he stepped into his room he remembered all the nights he'd spent desperately wishing he could escape to somewhere, anywhere, along as it was away from his mother and father and the snivelling younger brother who they adored.

He felt compelled to enter the miserable place now because of something Molly Weasley had said at breakfast. There was a boggart in his old wardrobe. Ron had been ordered to clean it out the previous day only to be confronted by a spider almost twice his size. It posed no real threat, apart from giving Ron a nervous breakdown, but it was a nuisance that stopped them getting their work done. As the book lists had arrived today Molly (along with all the Hogwarts students who wanted to stock up on things that she refused to buy them) had to visit Diagon Alley, leaving her with no time to do away with the boggart.

Molly hadn't asked Sirius to deal with the boggart, but he decided he was going to anyway. The only other person not going to Diagon Alley was Evie and she seemed reluctant to tackle it, so he'd really be doing everyone a favour. At least it provided a little more excitement than cleaning, and it would take his mind off the fact that tomorrow everyone would be returning to either Hogwarts or the Burrow. The days had flown by since Harry's trial, and now he was faced with the prospect of being alone again. A little struggle with an annoying pest would provide a nice distraction from his increasingly gloomily thoughts.

Besides that, he had a sort of idle curiosity as to what form his boggart would take. Over the course of a lifetime a person's greatest fear could change; the last time Sirius had faced a boggart, before the murder of two of his best friends and his incarceration in Azkaban, it had taken the shape of his mother. Since then he had come to realise that there were much scarier things than that withered old hag, and he wondered what would take her place.

Pulling out his wand, he began to make his way over to the wardrobe, carefully stepping over the debris that littered the floor. The wardrobe rattled harder and harder the closer he got to it, but as he put his hand on the handle it fell still. Wand at the ready, he yanked open the door.

Immediately the air around him chilled. It was like ice coursed through his veins, freezing him to the ground. He managed to stagger back a few steps as a Dementor glided out of the wardrobe, its faceless hood pointed towards him. A strangled scream escaped his throat as it raised an arm swathed in a ragged and dirty sleeve and pointed at him.

Forgetting that it was a boggart, forgetting that a simple incantation could rid him of this nightmare, Sirius turned and ran. He was focussed entirely on getting out of the room, out of the house, away from the hellish creature. But his legs, trembling and sluggish from the effects of the Dementor and fear, refused to carry him far. He tripped and fell to the floor.

The moment he hit the ground memories flooded into his mind. He saw himself as a teenager, his mother towering over him and screaming that he was a disgrace to the family. He saw the bodies of Lily and James, looking almost perfect and untouched even though they were completely lifeless. He saw himself during his first night in Azkaban, huddled in a corner and crying out the names of his friends, as if the chant could somehow bring them back and return everything to normal.

He felt like he was drowning in his misery. His wand, clutched feebly in his shaking hand, fell from his grip and rolled away. The Dementor approached slowly, drawing out Sirius's agony for as long as it could, feeding off his pain.

From the corner of his eye, Sirius saw a silver blur shoot into the room. As it got closer Sirius realised that it was a lioness, the muscles in her powerful legs rippling as she raced towards him. With one enormous leap, she had crossed the room and landed in front of him. She turned to the Dementor and her mouth gaped open in a silent roar. The Dementor retreated and Sirius felt its grip over him begin to loosen.

Evie charged into the room, eyes blazing and fury etched onto her face. She stalked towards the Dementor with her wand raised, and barked an order at her patronus to attack it. As she neared the Dementor she was amazed to see it melt away. The filthy black robes and fearful atmosphere disappeared. Standing in front of her, where the Dementor had been only moments before, was Harry.

"Idiot." Evie muttered to herself. "It's a bloody boggart." Quickly seizing on a funny thought she cried, "_Riddikulus!_" There was a loud crack and the boggart Harry disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Still berating herself for her stupidity, she turned to where Sirius lay on the floor. She hurried over to him and knelt at his side. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Sirius nodded. "Just took me by surprise." He croaked. "I wasn't expecting a Dementor."

"Can you get up?"

"Yeah." He got shakily to his feet. He remained standing for a few seconds and then began to topple over again. Evie rushed forwards and steadied him with her hands on his shoulders.

"You're not alright, are you?" She asked, a frown creasing her face.

"I'm fine." He said unconvincingly, still trembling.

"No you're not. But you will be with some tea and chocolate in you. Here, let me help." She slid her arm around his waist and then pulled his arm around her shoulder, ignoring his protests that he could walk himself. She steered him firmly towards the door and then down the corridor. They had difficulty navigating the stairs as they were so narrow, but eventually they made it down and got to the kitchen.

Evie deposited Sirius on the bench next to the table and then busied herself making tea. Despite the Dementor, Sirius was beginning to feel happier than he had done since returning to Grimmauld Place. Not only was Evie talking to him again, but she actually seemed to care about him. She couldn't hate him quite as much as he thought she did.

Evie placed a steaming cup of tea in front of him along with the biggest slab of chocolate he'd even seen. "Eat. Drink." She ordered. "You'll soon feel better." Sirius obeyed eagerly, breaking off pieces of the chocolate and cramming them into his mouth. He followed it down with an enormous gulp of tea, enjoying the scalding heat after the freezing cold the Dementor created. Evie sat opposite him, sipping her tea far more delicately.

For a long time both of them just stared down at the table in silence. Eventually both blurted out at the same time, "I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for." Sirius said quickly.

"I do." Evie sighed. "You were definitely in the wrong here." She glared at him and he flushed, quickly looking away. "But I may have overreacted slightly."

"You were right to."

Evie's lips twitched into a smile. "You don't have to be so obliging, you know, I've already forgiven you."

Sirius laughed. "I mean it. I shouldn't have done what I did. It wasn't fair on you."

"You had good intentions; you just didn't act on them too well." Evie said.

"Even so-"

"Let's just forget about the whole thing." Evie interrupted.

Sirius grinned. "Sounds good to me." He barely had time to enjoy the relief at having Evie forgive him before he was plunged into panic again.

"I'm going back to my aunt and uncle's tomorrow, after Harry leaves." She said casually.

A wave of horror rose in Sirius. Even though she had forgiven him she was still going to leave. He tried to push the feeling aside, not wanting his despair to be heard when he spoke. "Oh." He said, sounding miserable despite his best efforts. "Well I can't say I won't miss you."

Evie looked confused. "Why?"

"Well…I've…I've gotten used to having you around."

"Can't you do without me for a few hours?"

"I don't… A few hours?" He asked, suddenly feeling as confused as she looked.

"Yes." She explained patiently. "I'm only going for a visit. My aunt and uncle want to see me on my birthday."

"So you're going to stay here?" He asked, barely daring to believe.

"Of course! I've only just got here. Unless you don't want me to." She added nervously.

"No, you should stay!" He rushed to reassure her.

"Good!" She beamed. "Listen, I was going to ask before but then that boggart got in the way. Would you like to come with me tomorrow? You'd have to be in pooch form, but it'd be nice to be out of the house for a few hours."

Dumbledore's dire warnings about staying indoors flittered across Sirius's mind only briefly before he disregarded them completely. "That'd be great."


	15. Goodbyes

"You promise you'll write?" 

"I promise." Harry replied, voice half muffled by Evie's shoulder. She reluctantly released him from her tight embrace and stepped back, allowing Sirius to say goodbye as well as he could whilst pretending to be a dog. When they'd finished, Harry flashed Evie a final grin before hurrying over to the train. Just before he boarded, he paused and turned. "Happy birthday!" He called, giving Evie a brief wave.

"Thanks!" She shouted, waving back. She watched him disappear into the throng of people now jostling to get onboard. They all crammed in and the door snapped shut behind them. The enormous purple steam train gave an ear splitting toot of its horn before sliding gracefully away from the platform.

Evie watched it disappear from sight and then glanced down at Sirius, who was sitting patiently as her feet. "Are you ready?" She murmured out of the side of her mouth, hoping that no one would see her talking to a dog. Sirius immediately leapt to his feet – or paws, rather – and wagged his tail. Evie grinned. "Alright. Let's say goodbye to Mrs Weasley and Bill first."

She turned and made her way through the rapidly thinning crowd to where mother and son stood. Mrs Weasley dabbed delicately at her eyes with the corner of her handkerchief while Bill patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, clearly unsure of what to say. When he looked up and spotted Evie and Sirius he smiled broadly, relieved to be rescued from the situation.

"Are you two off now?" He asked.

Evie nodded. "Where are you going?" 

"I could only get the morning off so I have to get back to work, but mum is going back to The Burrow."

Mrs Weasley sniffled quietly and pocketed her handkerchief. She fixed Evie with the sternest look that she could muster. "You will be careful today, won't you? I'm still not sure about this. If Dumbledore knew…"

She trailed off as Sirius gave a low growl and stalked off down the platform. "There he goes again," Mrs Weasley huffed, colour rising in her cheeks. "I'm only concerned about your safety, but he just won't listen."

"I know, Mrs Weasley, and I promise we'll be careful." Evie reassured her, hoping to avoid another argument.

"The _slightest _sign of trouble-"

"And we'll apparate back home as fast as we can."

Mrs Weasley nodded. "Good girl." She pulled her into a quick hug. "Everyone will be popping in an out of headquarters all the time, but we'll visit properly before Halloween."

"I'm looking forward to it already. I don't know what we'll do without you feeding us. I'm no whiz in the kitchen and I don't think Sirius even knows how to make toast."

Mrs Weasley gave a watery chuckle as she let her go. Bill stepped forwards and pulled her into a brief embrace, looking just as uncomfortable as he had done when he was consoling his mother. "I'll probably be back within the week," He leant closer to her ear and dropped his voice. "I'll make sure I smuggle some of mum's food out of the house for you. Can't have Kreacher feeding you."

Evie laughed and bid them a final goodbye before setting off down the platform in search of Sirius. As soon as she found him she began to rummage around in the bag that was slung over her shoulder. In response to Sirius's questioning look she said, "I'm looking for your collar. Now there's no need for that!" She cried as Sirius growled loudly. "It just makes things easier. Have _you_ ever tried apparating while carrying a dog that's nearly as big as you are?"

Sirius didn't look happy but allowed her to put the collar on him without further complaint. As she struggled to fasten the stiff catch, the thin crowd that surrounded them dissipated. At the other end of the platform Lucius Malfoy, about to leave for a meeting at the Ministry, happened to glance in their direction. His eyes widened as they fell on Evie and, without hesitation, he hurried towards her. He pushed past the few people still milling around, earning himself annoyed glares and mutterings.

The distance between them closed quickly. Soon he was less than half the platform away, and she still hadn't noticed him. Taking her would be a simple matter. It would be so easy to grab her by the shoulder or elbow and apparate, taking her to a place where he could subdue her effortlessly. In his wildest dreams he had never believed that it would be this easy to capture Evie Potter, and by the looks of it the animagus Black along with her. The Dark Lord would reward him richly for this!

Now he was only feet away. In a few seconds he could lay his hands on her and she would be his. Evie rose from her crouching position and grinned down at Sirius, blissfully unaware of the drama that she was the centre of. She wrapped her fingers firmly around Sirius's collar and turned sharply on the spot, disappearing with the dog.

Too late Lucius lunged into the empty space where she had stood a second before, his hands grasping only air. He let out a cry of frustration before quickly clamping down on his anger; there were still people on the platform, chatting in small groups or saying a final goodbye. Even though he felt secure in his comfortable Ministry position and with the Minister's trust in him, the Dark Lord would be more than angry if he discovered that one of his most prominent Death Eaters had aroused suspicion by raving in public. Smoothing his ruffled hair, he quickly scanned the station to see if anyone had noticed anything. Everyone went about their business, oblivious to what had just happened. Satisfied that his outburst had gone unobserved, Lucius Malfoy strode up to the barrier that separated the Muggle and Wizard worlds and disappeared.

Mrs Weasley watched him go, her eyes wide and terrified. "Did you see that?" She asked quietly, turning to Bill.

Bill nodded mutely, the consternation on his face telling her everything she needed to know. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but it can't be anything good. The look on his face just then…" She suppressed a small shudder. "What are we going to do? We don't know where they've gone. We can't get in touch with them or warn them."

"You go home." Bill said firmly. "Try and get hold of dad, but don't mention Evie or Malfoy by name unless you're talking to him face to face. If you have to speak to someone else, just say that it's a family emergency and he needs to come home."

"Alright." She nodded, relieved that she had something useful to do and that she wasn't going to spend the next few hours twiddling her thumbs at home while she was going mad with worry. "What about you? What are you going to do?"

"What do you think?" He said grimly. "Find Dumbledore."


	16. Gifts

Evie and Sirius reappeared at the base of a gently sloping hill. "Wait here," Evie murmured. "I'll find us somewhere to sit and eat." She shrugged her bag off and placed it next to Sirius before beginning to climb the hill. With her fast pace and the incline not being steep she soon reached the top, although, thanks mostly to spending the summer cooped up indoors and Mrs Weasley's generous portions of every meal, her breath came a lot faster than usual.

Shading her eyes from the sun with her hand, she scanned the surrounding area for somewhere suitable. After several long minutes, in which Sirius let loose several impatient barks, she found the perfect place for them; a small group of trees huddled closely together. The shady branches would shelter them from the midday sun and protect them from the view of anyone who might happen to pass by, which would allow Sirius to assume his normal form. Making a mental note of the position of the trees, she took off down the hill at a run.

At the bottom she found Sirius in a state of great agitation. His tail wagged frantically as he caught sight of her and his whole body buzzed with suppressed energy. "You go ahead," She said, pointing to the place she had picked for them. "I thought that those trees would be…" She trailed off and sighed deeply. As soon as she'd pointed him in the right direction he'd galloped off into the distance. He spun around in the long grass, jumping and snapping his powerful jaws at nothing. Evie picked up the bag and, with a roll of her eyes, set off after him at a more sensible pace.

After a few minutes he disappeared out of her sight into the trees. She forced herself to walk faster and was soon pushing her way through branches and leaves. She emerged into a small enclosure where she found Sirius, now out of his dog form, already lounging on the sparse grass, grinning up at her lazily. A small wave of panic rose within her to see him so exposed in public, but a brief look around calmed her nerves. No one would be able to see them from a distance and they'd be able to see someone approaching in enough time for Sirius to transform back into a dog.

"Food!" He demanded, eyes fixed on her bag.

"Alright," Evie huffed, flopping down next to him and pulling off her bag. "Anyone would think you're starved." She reached into her bag and began to pull out various containers of food: sandwiches, pork pies, fruit salad, apple crumble, cake.

As she pulled out more and more food, Sirius raised an eyebrow. "How much did Molly make for us?"

"I think the idea is that we save some so we don't starve while she's gone. Anyway," She said, plonking the biggest bottle of butterbeer either of them had ever seen onto the ground. "That's it."

Sirius frowned. "Are you sure? There should be more."

"More! A moment ago you were complaining there was too much."

"Not complaining, merely observing. You can never have too much food. Now check the bag again."

Evie shrugged and plunged her arm back inside. She groped around for several seconds finding nothing, but then her probing fingers brushed against something. Grasping it firmly, she yanked it out and found that it was a lumpy cloth sack.

"That's it." Sirius said, beaming.

"I didn't put that in there." Evie said, her brow wrinkling.

"No, I did."

"You? Why? What is it?" She peered at it curiously.

"Just look inside."

Evie pulled off the string that held the sack shut and then upended it, causing three packages to fall out. She looked at Sirius questioningly.

"Happy birthday," He grinned. Grabbing the smallest parcel, he thrust it towards her. "Open this one first. It's from Fred."

Evie eagerly pulled off the wrapping paper to reveal a delicate blue glass bottle. She peered inside, trying to discern what the liquid sloshing around inside was. Handing it to Sirius, she asked, "What is it?"

He uncorked the bottle and brought it to his nose. A look of disgust crossed his face and he hastily tried to shove the cork back in as he coughed and spluttered. After a few moments of fumbling he succeeded and shoved it back into Evie's hands. "I think it's _supposed _to be perfume," He grimaced. "But I wouldn't recommend wearing it. Not if you like your skin in its non corroded state."

She carefully placed the bottle back into the sack and reached for her next present. This one was much larger and felt heavy in her hands. After giving it an experimental rattle, she tore off the paper. What it hid was a beautiful, oak box. The wood was so smooth and polished that Evie could see her reflection in the surface easily. Flicking open the brass catch, she opened the lid and let out a small gasp. Nestled inside were reams of the finest parchment that Evie knew from sight and touch would never tear or smudge her writing. Held in place by a small rack were several pots of ink, ranging in colour from black to turquoise. On top of the parchment lay a dainty white quill. When she picked it up, it changed immediately to a yellow so bright it almost hurt the eyes to look at.

"It changes colour according to your mood," Sirius explained. "It's supposed to help you decide what kind of thing you'll write best at certain times."

"Is this from you?"

"No, from Remus. This," He picked up the only remaining package. "Is from me and Harry."

Evie wanted to spend more time investigating her new writing set, but she reluctantly set it aside and accepted the gift Sirius was extending to her. It was smaller and lighter than the first two, and wrapped in worn red fabric instead of paper. She undid the satin bow and pulled away the fabric, exposing a velvet draw string bag. At Sirius's direction, she reached inside and pulled out its contents.

In her hand she held a sliver locket. The chain was narrow and delicate, but the locket itself was heavy. The surface had no decoration apart from an emerald, dazzling for all its smallness, which was set in the centre. When she opened it she found a small photograph. Raising it to her eyes, she could see that it was her father as he must have been at Hogwarts or just after he'd left. He grinned up at her, occasionally flicking back the strands of hair that fell over his eye.

"The necklace is from Harry," Sirius said gently after Evie didn't say anything. "It was your mum's. It's always been in Harry's bank vault but he didn't know about it until he was told."

When she remained silent Sirius continued. "I've enchanted it. It won't break, you won't lose it. It can even become invisible if you want it to." He frowned. "Don't you like it?"

Evie wanted to tell him how much it meant to her, that she loved it, but when she opened her mouth she found that she couldn't speak.

* * *

There was a frantic knocking at Dumbledore's office door, but before he had a chance to give his visitor permission to enter, the door flew open and Professor McGonagall hurried in. 

"Trouble already, Minerva?" He grinned. "It must be a new record. There's still a few hours before term starts."

"Bill Weasley," McGonagall panted.

Dumbledore frowned. "Bill?"

"I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't looked out of the window, but I just saw his patronus."

Dumbledore was on his feet and heading to the door in seconds. "When was this?"

"Just a few moments ago, I came straight here. Albus, what's happening?"

"I don't know," His voice was grim. "Bill is supposed to be at the Ministry."

He hurried down the winding stairs that led to his office and headed to the gates, McGonagall hot on his heels.

* * *

Evie strolled along the worn grass path, Sirius back as a dog at her side. After they'd finished their food, they'd decided to make the journey to her aunt and uncle's house. Although it wouldn't take them more than half an hour, after all the food they'd stuffed themselves with it felt more like a five mile hike. 

Sirius growled softly, causing Evie to jump slightly. "What is it?" She asked, looking down at him and frowning. Sirius made no reply, merely keeping his eyes fixed ahead of him and increasing his pace. Following his gaze, Evie saw a tall figure on the path ahead of them. The figure noticed them and began to hurry towards them.

When Dumbledore reached them, Evie couldn't suppress the small shudder that ran through her. His eyes flashed with anger and when he spoke she knew that she wouldn't dare disobey him.

"Home. Now."

* * *

Once again, Lucius Malfoy found himself on the floor in front of his master. Only this time he was flat on his back rather than kneeling. His very bones ached from the torture that Voldemort had just inflicted on him with a mere flick of his wand. He wanted to get to his feet but he didn't trust his legs to hold him, and he feared that Voldemort would take it as a sign that he hadn't received enough punishment. 

Instead he croaked, "My Lord, if you'd just give me another-"

"No more chances, Lucius," Voldemort hissed. "You had her within your grasp and you let her go."

"My Lord, please…"

"Silence!" Roared Voldemort. He swirled around and directed his wand at Malfoy, who instantly began to writhe and let out a terrible cry of pain. "You clearly cannot be trusted with such an important task." He said once Malfoy had quietened down. Malfoy offered no protest, now too exhausted to even speak.

"Wormtail!" Voldemort turned to the cowering man in the corner. He sprang to attention and hurried over to his master, although he trembled visibly.

"Contact Severus," Voldemort ordered. "I have a new job for him."

* * *

_**Sorry for the enormous delay! Exams have kept me busy. There will be another delay because I'm away on holiday for a week, but after that updates should be regular again. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far!**_


	17. Help

The moment that Evie walked through the door of Grimmauld Place she was engulfed in a bone crunching hug by Mrs Weasley. Remus, who was standing in the corridor behind her, smiled weakly at Sirius in greeting. Once Mrs Weasley released Evie, Remus pulled her in a gentle hug of his own. "You gave us a scare, you know." He murmured in her ear.

Mrs Weasley turned her attention to Sirius. "I _told _you!" She whispered viciously, furious but still unwilling to wake the portrait of Mrs Black. "I told you it was a bad idea! But would you listen? No! You just ignored everyone like you always do, and went and did what you wanted. Didn't care an ounce for the danger you put yourself or your goddaughter in, or other people's feelings…"

She continued her rant, showing no signs of abating. Sirius looked as if he was about to argue back, but then a great weariness stole over his face and his shoulders slumped. He turned into his dog form, slipped by Mrs Weasley and scrambled up the stairs, disappearing out of sight. A few moments later they all heard a door bang shut.

"Well," Mrs Weasley huffed. "If he thinks he can get out of it that easily, he's got another thing coming."

Disentangling herself from Remus, Evie placed a calming hand on Mrs Weasley's arm. "It wasn't his fault. It was my idea."

"But he should have known better!"

Evie shrugged. "You can tell both of us off later, we probably deserve it. But I get the feeling that now really isn't the best time." She cast an anxious look at the top of the stairs.

Mrs Weasley didn't look happy but she didn't argue. "The telling off will have to wait until another day. I have to be getting home now. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay, dear."

"Thanks, Mrs Weasley. I'm fine."

Mrs Weasley pulled her into another hug, this one much briefer than the last. Afterwards she patted Remus on the shoulder and headed to the door. "I don't doubt that I'll be seeing both of you again soon. Just try not to get into trouble between now and then."

Evie grinned. "I'll try my best."

"Sometimes," Mrs Weasley said wearily, but with a twinkle in her eye. "I think you're far too much like your brother for your own good." With a small wave, she slipped out of Grimmauld Place.

Evie turned to Remus, a frown on her face. "What's going on? Dumbledore just showed up and told us to get back here."

"Something happened at the train station." He placed a hand on her shoulder and began to steer her towards the kitchen. "I'll explain over a cup of tea."

Once they were seated at the table and had their steaming mugs in front of them, Remus told her all about Lucius Malfoy. Who he was, his connection to Voldemort, and how he'd tried to grab her at the train station. When Remus finished, Evie gave a shudder. "I can understand why everyone was so worried."

"That's not all," Remus said grimly. "We've received intelligence that Lucius didn't merely glimpse you and see an opportunity to impress his master. They had already organised a search for you." At Evie's horrified look, Remus hurried on to reassure her. "But there is some good news. One of our members, a spy in Voldemort's ranks, has been placed in charge of the hunt. He'll be able to throw them off the scent."

"What do they even want with me?"

"There isn't necessarily a specific reason. With your parents, your brother, you would be a valuable asset. I can only assume that Voldemort believes you to be an easier target than Harry, that you're less well protected. Which, of course, isn't true. The only place better protected than this house is Hogwarts."

There were a few moments of silence, during which both stared down into their mugs, before Evie murmured, "One of us should tell Sirius. He doesn't know about this. If he had…"

"I'll go," Remus volunteered, pushing his chair back and standing up. "I'm probably more equipped to explain everything."

Evie reached across the table and gently caught hold of his arm. "Before you go, would it be alright if we talked later?"

"Of course. What about?"

"I want to do something for Sirius, but I haven't the skill to do it on my own. I need your help."

Remus sat back down again. "What kind of something?"

"Something that'll make him feel better about being stuck in this place," She gestured at the grimy walls of the aptly named Grimmauld Place. "Or at least I hope it will."

Remus smiled. "Well in that case, if I can help I will."

This time they both rose from their seats. "Coming with me?" Remus asked.

Evie shook her head. "No. I have to write a letter."

* * *

Fred pulled the bed covers up over his head, trying to muffle the sound of rain pounding against the window panes. A combination of the storm and his brother's snoring had kept him awake for most of the night, and now the first watery light of an autumn day was beginning to seep into the room. George turned over in his sleep and gave a particularly loud snore, making Fred jump. With a groan of frustration, he kicked off the covers and began rummaging in the bedside table in search of his watch. Just after six. 

Abandoning any hope of sleep, he reluctantly left the warm cocoon of his bed and began to pull on his school robes. If he couldn't get any rest before lessons started he could at least get the best of the bacon; the house elves would be busy in the kitchen preparing breakfast by now, and they were always more than happy to provide him with whatever food he desired.

He glanced at his timetable and then stuffed the textbooks he'd need for the day into his bag, along with quills, ink and parchment. His wand he pocketed as he headed to the door. Looking at the sleeping George, he briefly wondered whether he should leave a note for him before quickly discarding the idea. George would know where to find him. Opening the door as quietly as he could, he left the dormitory.

It always made him feel slightly uneasy to see the common room deserted, and today was no exception. He was also surprised to see the mess from less night cleared away. Apart from celebrations after Quidditch matches, the first night back after the summer holidays always saw the most activity in the common room. Friends caught up after weeks apart, those students from muggle families were filled in on any news from the wizarding world that they might have missed. Most people didn't go to bed until well after midnight, and when they did they left their sweet wrappers, used newspapers and various other pieces of rubbish behind. But this morning the room was spotless; the house elves must have worked tirelessly through the night.

Fred had just reached the portrait when he heard it. The sound was faint, almost lost in the hammering rain, but he caught it. Turning around, he saw an owl pecking at one of the windows. He hurried over and unlatched the window, letting the owl in. It flew inside and perched itself on one of the armchairs, ruffling its dripping feathers angrily.

"Who's the letter for, then?" He asked, moving to untie the envelope from the owl's leg. The owl made his job no easier: he continually pecked at his hands and screeched angrily at him, as if it was Fred's fault that he'd been soaked in the downpour. Eventually Fred retrieved the letter and, with a final screech, the owl flew back out of the window.

Fred turned it over in his hand and was amazed to read:

_Fred Weasley_

_Gryffindor Tower_

_Hogwarts_

The only person who normally wrote to him was his mum, and he could think of no reason why she would write to him so soon after seeing him or why she wouldn't send the letter with the daily post. Besides which, the writing on the envelope was most definitely not his mother's. Tearing open the envelope, he pulled out the letter.

_Dear Fred,_

_I'm sorry to send this at such an inconvenient time, and I hope the owl didn't wake you or cause you too much trouble. I couldn't send this with the morning post, the reason for which will soon become clear._

_However, before I explain I must thank you for my birthday present. It was such a pleasant surprise and very generous of you. I'll be sure to wear it the next time there is a special occasion. _

_The main reason I'm writing to you is because I'm concerned about Harry. The situation being what it is at the moment, I'm worried about the coming year at Hogwarts. As you're his friend I know you'll look out for him whenever you can, and that eases my mind somewhat. But, from what I know of him, Harry rarely asks for help and that's what concerns me. _

_If Harry ever runs into trouble, or if he needs help that I can give, please contact me. I hate to ask this of you, but I'll sleep far easier knowing that I can aid Harry when he needs it._

_Once again, thank you for the present. It was much appreciated._

_Yours,_

_Evie._

All thoughts of food suddenly left Fred's mind. Pulling out parchment and quill, he sat down in an armchair to begin to write his reply.


	18. Painful Lessons

Light was just beginning to enter the sky when Evie shuffled into the kitchen. Remus sat at the table, his head buried in a book, an untouched piece of toast lying forgotten on a plate nearby. When he heard Evie enter the room he looked up and smiled, murmuring a welcome before returning to his reading. She wished him a good morning, stifling a yawn behind her hand. As she approached, Remus pulled the book closer to him, hunching over it so that she couldn't catch a glimpse of its contents.

Noticing his uneaten breakfast, Evie frowned. Remus was leaving today on some business for the Order. Where he was going or what he was going to do Evie didn't know, but he wouldn't be back for at least a week. He needed to be fortified for whatever lay ahead of him. She took the plate and threw the now cold piece of toast into the bin before setting about making a real breakfast. She cracked eggs and fried mushrooms and, with a little help from her wand, within a few minutes she was plucking the book out of Remus's hands and placing a steaming hot omelette in front of him.

Remus looked up at her in astonishment. "You didn't have to do this, I have…" He glanced at the table and noticed that the breakfast he'd prepared had disappeared. "Where's my toast?"

Evie rolled her eyes as she seated herself opposite him. "I thought you were supposed to be observant? Must be a good read," She nodded towards the book. "To keep you so preoccupied."

He quickly turned the book over before she could read the title. "Just some research." He muttered before tucking into his food. He shovelled forkfuls of omelette into his mouth, clearly hoping to avoid having to answer anymore questions.

Evie pursed her lips but said nothing. When it came to giving information about missions for the Order, everyone was very tight lipped. She wouldn't find out anything new by questioning Remus further, and she didn't want to ruin the last few minutes she had with him with tension. But watching him eat, she couldn't help but grow anxious. His face, usually pallid, was more pale and drawn than she had ever seen it. The circles under his eyes had grown darker, and his clothes were beginning to hang off him; she had a feeling that it wasn't just breakfast he was missing.

She hoped that Dumbledore knew what he was doing, that Remus could handle whatever was expected of him. In the short time that they'd known each other she'd grown very attached to him. She couldn't help but like Sirius; despite the slight bump in their relationship, the wolfish smile, the easy sense of humour and his deep love and protectiveness of his friends had served to charm her, as he charmed most people. Even though he was the complete opposite to Sirius she adored Remus too. He was dependant, solid. Always on hand to advise or confide in, always prepared to make peace or offer comfort. If Sirius was her constant protector, Remus was her guide. Despite the brevity of their relationship, Evie was fast becoming to view him as a brother and she hoped that the friendship they now shared would last a lifetime.

"Have you spoken to Sirius since last night?" Remus asked, startling Evie out of her thoughts.

She shook her head. "No. I planned to, but I was just so exhausted that I fell asleep after sending the letters."

"International apparating followed by a tramp around the countryside will do that to you." Remus said, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

"How is he?"

The smile faded. "Worried. He didn't take the news about Voldemort's search for you too well. He'll want to talk to you about it later; I know he wanted to last night." Remus pushed aside his plate which, Evie noticed with satisfaction, was empty. "Who else have you been writing to?"

Evie blinked, slightly confused by the sudden change in subject. "What do you mean?"

"You said 'letters'. I know you wrote to Harry, who else did you write to?"

"No one important." At Remus's raised eyebrow she sighed and said, "Alright, maybe it was important. But if you're allowed to have secrets then I am too."

"I don't keep secrets!"

It was Evie's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What are you reading, Remus?"

"So," Remus said, looking slightly panicked and scooping the book up off the table. "Did you like your birthday present?"

Evie's face softened. "I loved it. I should have thanked you for it yesterday, but with everything that happened…"

"I wanted to get you something better."

"It was perfect. Thank you."

Remus smiled and rose to his feet. "You're more than welcome," He glanced at his watch and his smile faded. "I have to be going, I need to be at…Well, I need to be somewhere soon."

Evie hurried to the other side of the table and pulled him into a quick hug. "Wherever you're going, be careful."

"Of course," He gave her a wry grin. "I couldn't leave you to work on Sirius's gift alone, could I?"

* * *

Harry was amazed when an owl landed gracefully next to his plate full of bacon. He checked the name on the envelope, expecting to find that the owl had simply stopped a few people too early, but it was addressed to _Harry Potter. _After untying the message and seeing the owl off, he made short work of the envelope and soon held the letter in his hands. 

_Dear Harry,_

_Thank you for the present. It was truly amazing. I know I've missed your birthday but I'll more than make up for it at Christmas. I promise. _

_Love,_

_Evie._

_P.S. If you need me at all I'm only an owl away. _

Harry grinned as he pocketed the letter. Perhaps he had been wrong; perhaps today wouldn't be so awful after all.

"Oh no," Ron groaned. "We've got Binns, Snape, Trelawney and Umbridge today!"

Harry sighed. He'd thought too soon.

* * *

It was nearing noon by the time Sirius emerged from his bedroom. He knocked on Evie's door sharply and then entered the room without waiting for an answer. Her first thought upon seeing him was that he didn't look much better than Remus: he'd clearly had very little sleep the night before. 

"Morning, Sirius." Evie smiled, looking up from the piece of parchment she was scribbling on. "Or afternoon, rather."

He didn't respond and instead paced the floor in silence. Evie rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the parchment, deciding to let Sirius speak when he was ready. After a few more minutes of silence he burst out, "Look, I know you must have some talent. You're capable of handling boggarts and dementors at least," He sat down heavily on the bottom of her bed. "But other than that I have no idea of what you can do."

Feeling vaguely insulted, Evie dropped her quill and turned around in her chair to face him. "Would you like a demonstration?"

"I'd just like to know that you can handle yourself."

"Alright. I can handle myself." Evie made to turn away again, but with a growl Sirius had leapt off the bed and grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her.

"That's not enough." He snarled, his fingers biting into her soft flesh.

Evie opened her mouth to tell him he was worrying needlessly and then to scold him for the bruise she knew she would have on her shoulder. But the look in his eyes stopped her. It was pure, uncontrolled panic that had probably been caused by a sleepless night, during which Sirius was no doubt playing out all of the hideous scenarios that could take place now that Voldemort was hunting both of his godchildren. She bit back her harsh words. "What do you want from me, Sirius?" She asked as gently as she could.

"I want to see every defensive spell and hex you know, and then I want you to learn whatever you're missing." He let go of her shoulder and ran a shaky hand through his loose hair. "I'm a bit rusty, God knows I've been out of the field long enough, but I should be able to teach you enough to keep you alive."

She resisted the strong urge to tell him that he was overreacting. "Alright," She said slowly. "I'll learn whatever you can teach me."

"Good. Grab your wand."

Her eyes widened. "Now? We're starting _now_?"

"Well we're not going to wait for Voldemort to waltz in here and take you. Grab your wand and meet me in the kitchen."

* * *

Several hours later and Evie found herself lying on her back on the hard kitchen floor for what felt like the thousandth time that day. She was beginning to regret agreeing to this. _It isn't worth it, _She thought tiredly. _Sirius can just panic. A little stress is good for the body, right? _

It was fast becoming clear that she wasn't as good at defensive spells as Sirius had assumed she was. In fact she was _awful. _True, she had managed to fend off a boggart. But boggarts were easy. They didn't really attempt to fight back, just scare you. Evie knew that as long as she could remember that whatever the boggart showed her wasn't real, she could destroy it.

This was different. She was fighting a fully fledged member of the Order of the Phoenix. She'd never duelled in her life, and now she was up against an expert. Sirius knocked her down and whenever she got back to her feet she was only up for a few seconds before she was horizontal again. If this was Sirius when he was "rusty" she'd hate to see him at his full strength.

"Evie?" Sirius called when she remained on the floor. "Need a hand up?"

"No, I think I'll just stay here. I'll only be back in a few seconds anyway."

Sirius chuckled and walked to her side. He held his hand out to her and she accepted it gratefully, allowing him to pull her up off the floor. "I'm glad we're doing this." Sirius said.

"Really?" Evie grumbled, rubbing one of her many sore muscles. "I'm glad one of us is."

Sirius laughed again. "No, really. I didn't realise how terrible you are."

"It's not enough that you injure my body? You have to have a go at my pride as well?"

He grinned and slipped an arm around her shoulder, steering her towards the table which had been pushed to one side. "Come on, I'll make you a cup of tea." Evie felt a brief wave of relief, which lasted for a few seconds until Sirius added, "Then we'll have another go."

* * *

**AN: **I'd really love to have a beta reader for this fic. If anyone would be willing to beta for me please, please, _please _pm or email me. Thank you! On a separate topic, I hope everyone has a good Saturday! 


	19. A Belated Present

Evie closed her eyes as she sank underneath the surface of the warm water. It soothed both her aching muscles and her bruises, of which she had many thanks to Sirius. Although she knew he had her best interests at heart, she couldn't help regretting agreeing to his lessons. After several hours of Evie being repeatedly thrown to the floor, Sirius had finally relented and allowed her to stop for the day. Fearful that he would change his mind, she'd run upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom and hadn't left since.

It was with great regret that she pulled the plug out of the hole and allowed the water to drain away around her. If she could have she would have stayed there for the rest of the night, but the water, which was as hot as she could stand it when she first got in, was now barely lukewarm. If she stayed in any longer then she'd have a cold on top of all her injuries.

Stepping out of the bath, she wrapped the largest towel she could find around herself and began to dry off quickly. Although outside it was a pleasant autumn evening, Grimmauld Place didn't seem to retain heat and she wanted to get into a set of warm clothes as soon as possible.

Just as she'd finished dressing there was a small tap on the door. "Come in!" She called, gently towelling her hair to rid it of its dampness. Sirius nudged the door open with his elbow and slipped inside. He had his hands full, but through the curtain of her soggy hair Evie couldn't make out exactly what it was he was holding.

"How are you feeling?" He asked sheepishly. "Still sore?"

"Unsurprisingly yes." Her tone was stern but the glare she threw at him was playful.

Looking guilty, Sirius placed what he was holding on a nearby shelf and plucked a jar out of the pile. "Well I'm hoping that this stuff will help."

"What is it?" She asked, throwing the damp towel over a rack and eyeing the jar suspiciously.

Sirius shrugged. "I'm not sure," In response to Evie's raised eyebrows he said, "Molly brought it when they came to stay over the summer. It seemed to work well enough on whatever injuries Fred and George caused."

Evie grinned, reassured now that she knew it was one of Molly's remedies. "Well if it can fix the havoc that those two can wreak I'm sure it can handle a few bruises."

They spent the next few minutes in silence, rubbing the cream onto Evie's bruises. Evie tackled the few on her arms and Sirius dealt with the couple that had formed on her back after being knocked down so many times. She was quite surprised by the gentleness with which he touched her; normally when they came into contact he was rough, intense, as his finger marks on her shoulder from earlier in the day attested. This time he touched her as if he were afraid to do her any more damage.

Once they'd finished, Sirius wiped his hands clean on a towel and went back to the shelf. He picked everything up and clutched it to his chest. As he was leaving, he managed to reach into the mess of items and extract a letter and parcel. "Arrived while you were in the bath," He explained as he handed them to her. "Come downstairs in an hour or so, I'll have dinner ready."

Normally Evie would have raised any eyebrow at the idea of Sirius's cooking, but the writing on the front of the envelope had caught her attention. She recognised it instantly as her aunt Mae's. Pulling on a robe she had borrowed from Sirius, she quickly made her way to her bedroom, where she flopped down onto the bed and opened the envelope.

_Dearest, _

_Dumbledore explained everything. We're sorry that we couldn't see you, but your safety is more important. We hope you like your present. It's something of an heirloom and has been in my family for generations. It's passed down from mother to daughter, and as you're my daughter in all but blood I pass it to you. When the time is right, I hope that you will pass it on also. _

_Aaron sends his love and says to take care. _

_All my love,_

_Mae._

Setting the letter aside, Evie pulled the parcel onto her lap. She quickly tore open the brown paper packaging, revealing a book.

It was bound with thick, toughened leather. It looked like the kind of binding that could be found on a tome full of dark magic, but Evie doubted very much that her aunt would send her something like that. Opening the book, she discovered that it contained no words, only illustrations. Despite their age, the vibrant colours of the pictures made them look as if they were drawn only the day before. Evie inspected them more closely.

The central figures on the first page were two women. One stood a head taller than the other and was clearly older, although her beauty was no less. She was swathed in a white robe and dark hair cascaded down her back in waves. One hand reached out, gently clasping a purple flower, and the other rested on the younger woman's shoulder. She was dressed similarly, only her robes were palest pink and the hair piled on top of her head was golden. They were surrounded by lush vegetation; trees, green grass and flowers of every colour. The only indication that the book was magical was the slight rustle of leaves in the breeze.

Evie turned the page and gave a small shudder. In this drawing the younger woman had been disturbed whilst picking flowers. A bundle of them were tumbling from her arms to the floor as a man pulled her along by the wrist. Only his bottom half was covered in black material, leaving his broad chest and shoulders bare. A thick mane of black hair framed his face and his arms were adorned with golden bands. The next illustration showed the young woman in an all together darker place; she was seated on a throne next to her kidnapper in a cavernous stone hall. Tears ran freely down her cheeks.

Evie was beginning to feel that this story was familiar, and the next drawing confirmed it: this was the myth of Persephone, Demeter and Hades. She knew this story well, having been taught it since she was in the cradle. Persephone, the daughter of the goddess of earth Demeter, was snatched by Hades and taken to be his consort in the Underworld. The grief stricken Demeter searched for her daughter and the earth withered around her, becoming barren. For the sake of the dying world, Hades was forced to return Persephone to her mother, but before she left he tricked her, making her eat six pomegranate seeds, which meant that she would have to return to him for six months of the year. And so for half of the year, when Demeter is reunited with Persephone, the earth flourishes and for the other half, when Persephone must return to Hades, the earth becomes desolate.

Although some would no doubt see it as an odd present, Evie wasn't surprised that her aunt Mae had sent her this. For as long as she could remember Mae had always set a lot of store in what she called the "Old Stories", myths and legends such as the one of Demeter and Persephone.

Evie was about to study the rest of the book when a loud bang from downstairs disturbed her. Setting it aside, she jumped off the bed and ignored the protests from her aching muscles as she headed down the long staircase. Once she reached the bottom floor, a quick glance in the living room told her that the noise hadn't come from there. It was completely dark and there weren't even any dying embers in the grate. Due to the lack of progress in the cleaning of the house, most of the other rooms on this floor went unused, which meant that the noise had to have come from the kitchen.

"Sirius!" She called as she hurried down the corridor. "Sirius, are you alright?"

"Fine!" He shouted back, forced cheerfulness in his voice. Evie reached out to push open the kitchen door but found that it wouldn't budge under her touch. She tried again, this time pushing harder, but it still wouldn't open.

"Have you locked the door?" She asked.

There was a long silence, followed by a quiet, "Maybe."

"What on earth for?" She cried in exasperation. "And what was that noise? Are you sure you're okay?"

"Fine, everything is absolutely fine!"

Muttering under her breath, Evie plunged her hand into the pocket of her loose robes. After a few moments of groping amongst its many folds she found her wand and pulled it out. "_Alohomora!" _She said, pointing the wand at the door. There was a loud click and the next time she tried the door it opened easily.

She strode into the kitchen and stopped abruptly. As far as she could tell, every surface, every item was covered in a fine layer of white powder. Sirius stood in the middle of the ground, also covered in the powder, wearing a look akin to a rabbit caught in the headlights.

"Sirius… what… what…"

"It's flour." He said weakly, falling down into one of the wooden seats.

"Right," Evie said. "And what's it doing… well, everywhere?"

"I was trying to make a cake," He mumbled. "But I've never done it before."

Evie couldn't help but giggle. "You're telling me!" She moved over to Sirius and tried to brush some of the flour out of his hair, but it just seemed to cling to his head more stubbornly. "What were you making – trying to make – a cake for?" 

"Well it was your birthday, and I did need to do something to apologise for kicking your arse today."

Evie's gentle brushing of his hair turned into a slap, then she hoisted him out of the chair. "Bath. Now. I'll fix this."


	20. Sirius's Nightmare

The next week passed in much the same way as Evie's first day of training. During the day she dutifully continued with Sirius's lessons, which still consisted mostly of being repeatedly knocked to the ground. The evenings were spent tending to whatever injuries she'd gained in the day, preparing the nightly meal and swapping stories. Evie did most of the talking, with Sirius listening eagerly to whatever she had to tell him. He seemed hungry for information about her: childhood stories, her double life going to school with muggles in the day but being taught magic at home by night, friends, boyfriends, her newly forged relationships with the people at Grimmauld Place. Sirius was more than happy to share stories about his time at Hogwarts, but was understandably reluctant to talk about his childhood and his incarceration in Azkaban. Evie didn't push him, and if they accidentally stumbled onto an upsetting subject she quickly switched to a happier topic.

As soon as she was confident that Sirius was fast asleep, Evie would sneak out of her room and make her way up to the attic. Cleaning it out was the first stage of creating Sirius's present, and she hoped to have most of it done by the time Remus returned. Keeping Kreacher out, and preventing him from telling Sirius about her night time activities when he found his way in, proved to be difficult, but she made steady progress anyway. One night she came very close to being found out: a particularly large spider had landed on her arm and she couldn't stop herself from screaming. Fortunately she'd managed to get down from the attic and close the hatch before Sirius arrived to find out what was wrong.

Mid week, entertainment arrived in the form of Fred's eight page reply to Evie's letter. Sirius didn't quite know what to make of it: he switched between amusement at the boy's crush and something close to the jealousy he felt of Remus during the time when Evie refused to speak to him. At first Evie was elated by Fred's response. He'd casually mentioned the Hogsmeade trip on the first weekend of October, and Evie had been overjoyed at the idea of getting to see Harry again so soon before realising that she'd never be allowed to make the trip.

Disturbed at seeing Evie so upset, and against his better judgement, Sirius had disappeared into the living room for over an hour. Upon emerging, he'd announced that Dumbledore had agreed that Evie could go to Hogsmeade on one condition – someone must escort her there and back.

Evie's face fell. "But there's no one to take me! You're the only one here and you can't leave the house."

"Dumbledore said that Remus will be returning soon. He can escort you."

"So I can see Harry again soon?"

"Looks that way, yes."

The next thing Sirius knew he was being pulled into a rib cracking hug, and Evie was raining kisses onto his cheeks. "Thank. You. So. Much!" She said in between kisses. Sirius laughed and hugged her back, his jealousy of Fred and worry about Evie evaporating for the moment.

Eight days after Remus's departure, Evie and Sirius were eating at the kitchen table when they heard the front door bang shut. They tensed, waiting for Mrs Black's wailing to begin. When it didn't come they lay down their forks and looked to the door, curious as to who their visitor could be. A few seconds later Remus stumbled in, looking as if he'd seen neither bed nor food since he'd left a week earlier.

Both Sirius and Evie were on their feet and at Remus's side in an instant, each of them wrapping an arm around his waist. As soon as they did so he sagged forwards, allowing them to support his weight.

"Moony, old mate," Sirius said as they dragged him towards the table and lowered him gently into a chair. "You're not looking too good."

"Long week." Remus muttered, smiling grimly.

Evie hurried over to the stove to where a pot of rich stew stood. She prodded underneath the pot with her wand and flames sprang up, warming the meal through. While she waited for it to heat up, she retrieved a loaf of bread from the cupboard and began to cut it into thick slices. As she was doing this, Sirius and Remus spoke in quick, low voices behind her. Although she couldn't hear them she knew they were discussing Remus's work for the Order, and she wanted desperately to join in the conversation, but decided that getting Remus what looked like his first meal for days was more important.

Eventually she slid the bowl of food in front of him and he smiled his thanks to her before tucking in, scooping up the chunks of meat and vegetables with the bread rather than a spoon. Sirius sat back in his chair, his brow creased and his eyes troubled. Evie touched his shoulder lightly. "Is everything alright?" She asked.

With what was clearly a great effort, he smiled and patted her hand. "Everything's fine," He rose from his chair. "I just need to speak to Dumbledore - Nothing bad!" He hurriedly reassured Evie as he saw the worry on her face. "Just need to let him know Remus is back. Which reminds me, Moony, are you up to a trip to Hogsmeade in a few weeks? Evie needs a guide."

"As long as I can go to Honeydukes." Remus replied, still shovelling food into his mouth.

"I'll let Dumbledore know you agreed, then." Sirius hurried out of the room, closing the door firmly behind him. Evie took his seat opposite Remus and sat regarding him in silence.

"What have you-" Evie began

"Have you made a start on the attic?" Remus asked through a mouthful of food, clearly hoping to head off whatever question Evie was about to ask about his work.

Evie frowned, noticing the diversion but deciding to answer anyway. There'd be time to question Remus later. "I've finished cleaning most of it, and believe me when I say it wasn't fun. There were cobwebs up there that could have given Methuselah a run for his money."

Remus chuckled. "Would you like to start the present tonight?"

Evie shook her head. "If you think you're doing anything but getting that fixed," She pointed to an oozing cut on his cheek. "And going to bed, you're sorely mistaken."

"Can I at least have a look at what you've done so far?"

"Eat another bowl of stew and I'll think about it."

"Deal," He grinned, pushing his now empty bowl towards her for a refill. "Listen," He said, beckoning for Evie to move closer. "I had a really good idea for something we could do. If we could just-"

The door opened and Sirius strode back in. Remus abruptly stopped talking and Evie jumped back into her own seat. Sirius stopped and narrowed his eyes. "What are you two up to?"

"Nothing," Evie said innocently, snatching up Remus's bowl and heading back to the stove. "More stew?"

* * *

Evie hopped off the last step that led down from the attic and then reached up, offering Remus her hand. He took it gratefully and jumped down to the floor, wincing slightly at the shock to his tired limbs. Evie tapped the ladder with her wand and it retracted into the attic. The hatch shut silently behind it, leaving no sign that anyone had been up there. 

"I have to say I'm impressed," Remus said. "How did you do all that on your own?"

Evie shrugged before taking hold of his arm and beginning to lead him down the hallway. "I'm not entirely sure. It was mostly just being determined to get it all clean before you came back. That and I had to work fast so the spiders wouldn't land on me."

Remus laughed and then quickly muffled the noise, remembering that Sirius was asleep. "Do you think he'll like it?" Evie asked nervously.

"He'll love it. He'd love vomit in a sock as long as it came from you."

It was Evie's turn to muffle a giggle. "Well I wish I'd known he was that easy to please, it would have saved me a lot of effort."

It wasn't long before they reached the stairs. After saying goodnight they parted, Remus taking the flight that led to the floor above and Evie taking the set that led to the one below. Thinking longingly of her bed, she stifled a yawn. She was almost in her room, had her hand on the handle, when she heard it. It wasn't a scream, more of a howl, so piteous and terrified that it made her shudder to hear it.

She took a couple of steps backwards, moving into the middle of the hallway. Tilting her head, she listened to hear if it would come again. Already she was half convinced that her tired mind had invented it, or that it had come from the resident ghoul of the house. Just as she'd decided that she had indeed imagined it, it came again, and this time there was no mistaking that it was real. Not only that, but it had come from Sirius's room.

Taking off at a run, Evie crossed the distance to Sirius's room in a matter of seconds. Without stopping to knock, she pushed open the door and flew inside. It was completely dark; not even moonlight managed to penetrate the thick curtains that were drawn across the windows. _"Lumos!" _Evie whispered frantically, causing a small pool of light to illuminate the room.

Sirius lay on the bed and, although he was clearly asleep, his rest was far from peaceful. His eyes were screwed shut tightly and his head thrashed from side to side. As she watched, one of his hands came up and lashed at the air as he let out another howl. Realising that she had frozen, Evie forced herself to move to his side.

"Sirius," She murmured, crouching over him. "Wake up! You're having a nightmare." She moved the hand holding the wand closer to him, but his arm came out of nowhere and knocked it out of her grasp, sending it flying across the room. It hit the floor and rolled underneath a chest of drawers, losing Evie her only source of light. "Sirius!" She said again, louder this time. "Wake up!" She leant over him and placed her hand on his shoulder. This time when his hand flew at her it caught her square in the mouth, causing her to stagger back several paces.

Vaguely aware that she could taste blood, she caught her balance and forced herself to move back to Sirius. Now more determined, she planted herself firmly on the bed and felt for his arms before he had a chance to lash out again. Finding them, she wrapped her slender fingers around his wrists and clung on tight, knowing that she wouldn't be strong enough to stop him hurting her if he chose to. "Sirius!" She tried to speak as loudly and as firmly as she could, but it came out as a plea. "Sirius, please wake up!"

Sirius jerked his arms violently, trying to free them from her grip. The movement made her fall forwards onto the bed, pushing her face down into the mattress, but somehow she managed to hold on. She lifted her head and began to call his name again, not once but over and over. Eventually Sirius's thrashing calmed and he was still.

Just as she thought it was safe to let go and find Remus, a voice called out in the dark. "Wh-Who's there?" Sirius demanded, although his voice shook.

Sagging in relief, Evie said, "It's me." She released his wrists and sat up again.

"Evie," Sirius murmured. Then the trembling started. It shocked Evie when she first felt it; she had to lay a hand on Sirius to confirm that it was him. Deciding that Remus was definitely needed, she rose from the bed. Before she could take a step Sirius grabbed her wrist. "Please," He pleaded in a whisper. "Don't."

It was the absolute terror and desperation still in his voice that made her decide to stay. She still believed that Remus would know more about this than she did, but she couldn't leave him. Not alone. Not in the dark. Sirius felt her body relax and gently pulled her down next to him. Once he was sure that she wouldn't leave, he let go of her wrist.

"What happened?" Evie asked quietly.

After a moment of hesitation Sirius replied, "Just a dream."

"It seemed a little more than that," When he didn't say anything she asked, "What was it about?"

"Azkaban. At first. Then Harry. Then… then you." The trembling, which had just begun to die down, started all over again.

Noticing, Evie frowned and took a stab at humour. "I didn't realise I was that scary."

Sirius said nothing. Just lay in silence and shook. "Lift up." Evie ordered, slipping a hand beneath his head. He obeyed unquestioningly and raised his head off the mattress. Quickly, Evie scooted into the vacated space and then lowered his head so that it rested on her lap. She didn't know whether Sirius would protest, but she was unwilling to sit by and let him suffer without so much as touching him. As it was he said nothing, letting her position him where she wished.

She pushed strands of hair off his sweat soaked forehead and began to speak. She didn't talk about anything important; she just wanted to reassure Sirius that he wasn't alone. Mostly she recounted fairy stories that her aunt Mae had told her when she was a child. Eventually the trembling stopped and he relaxed into her lap. After a few hours his deep, even breathing told her that he had once again fallen asleep.


	21. The Longest Day

Evie spent the next few weeks in a state of confusion. The morning after his nightmare Sirius seemed deeply ashamed of how she had seen him and spent most of the day refusing to meet her eye or talk to her. In the end it was noticing her split lip that broke his silence. When he realised it was caused by him he spent hours apologising, and even allowed her to stun him in their lesson together.

Although she was grateful that he was at least speaking to her, Evie could no longer tell where she stood with Sirius. His attitude toward her seemed to change by the hour. Sometimes he couldn't seem to spend enough time with her: he'd find excuses to seek her out, to touch her, to talk with her. At other times it seemed to Evie that the idea of even being in the same room as her repulsed him. He'd cut short their lessons and pretend to be asleep when he'd been reading the newspaper only moments before. Every now and then, usually when he thought she wasn't paying attention, she'd catch him looking at her in a way that, for no reason she could explain, sent a shiver down her spine.

She wasn't sure if their relationship could go back to how it was before and, despite the constant uncertainty, she didn't think that she wanted it to. Even if Sirius was embarrassed about what had happened, she wasn't. The night spent comforting him had created more affection for him than she'd thought possible. She wanted to spend as much time with him as she could, discover new things about him. It was wonderful when he was in the mood to reciprocate, but more upsetting than she cared to admit when he pushed her away. More than once she'd found herself angrily blinking back tears, reprimanding herself for overreacting.

To make matters worse, it seemed that when Sirius wasn't in the mood to talk to Evie, he wasn't in the mood for anyone to talk to her. A letter from Fred could plunge him into a miserable silence for hours. If he walked into a room where Evie and Remus were talking and laughing together he'd walk straight out again.

Evie began to look forward more and more to her secret sessions in the attic with Remus. Together they were making quick work of creating Sirius's present. Seeing the progress they'd made always made her smile, even though all of their hard work was for a man who seemed to hurt her without realising it. Remus noticed the sudden difference between them, but after questioning Sirius and Evie separately and getting nowhere he dropped the subject, deciding instead to stay silent and keep an eye on both of them.

On the morning of Evie's departure to Hogsmeade, Sirius was in one of his better moods. He rose early and made breakfast for all three of them, delivering Evie's to her bedside table as she was just beginning to stir. As the minutes ticked by, worry for Evie, anxiety about what might happen on her trip, began to wear away at his cheerfulness, but he still managed to keep a smile on his face.

At nine o clock Sirius, Evie and Remus made their way to the front door. Remus opened it a crack and peered outside before quickly pulling his head back in and slamming the door. "It's tipping down out there," He grumbled. "I'll go and find an umbrella. You don't want to be wandering around Hogsmeade in a downpour without one."

"Check the living room," Sirius said. "There should be one in there. But be fast otherwise you'll miss Harry." In the interests of Evie's safety they'd decided not to tell Harry that she'd be paying him a visit, so the only chance she had of meeting up with him was to be at the entrance to Hogsmeade when all of the Hogwarts students began to arrive.

As soon as Remus was gone, Sirius swept Evie up into a hug. "You will be careful, won't you?"

She chuckled. "It was your idea in the first place, and you were the one who convinced Dumbledore to agree."

"I know, but I worry." He placed a soft kiss on Evie's forehead and she smiled. She began to draw back, but Sirius didn't release her, only loosened his grip. She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing but then faltered: he was looking at her in that strange way he had been for the last couple of weeks. The familiar, inexplicable, tingle worked its way up her spine. Suddenly she realised that Sirius was moving towards her and, more surprisingly, she was moving towards him too. Their faces were only inches apart and within a few seconds there was only a slither of air between them. Then their lips were gently brushing and, even though they barely touched, it knocked all of the breath out of Evie. They parted, and the look on Sirius's face told her that he was just as surprised as she was. She only caught a glimpse of the shock in his eyes because, after the briefest of moments, they were coming together again. At first they were as tentative as before, but it wasn't long before Evie was tangling her fingers in Sirius's long hair, pulling him closer. Sirius parted her lips gently with his tongue and began to caress her, eliciting a deep moan from her in response. He allowed his hands to fall to her waist and pulled her to him, until they were crushed together

"Sirius!" Remus called. Evie and Sirius sprang apart as if burned, Evie almost tripping over a coat stand in her haste. "I can't find that umbrella anywhere," Remus hurried down the hall, pulling on his gloves. "We'll just have to - What's wrong with you two?"

"Nothing!" They both said at once, carefully avoiding each others gaze.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Right. Whatever it is you can deal with it later, we need to go now."

"I – I'll see you later," Sirius muttered, taking a step backwards. _"Be careful." _He said more firmly, although he still wouldn't look at Evie.

"See you soon," Remus said. He took Evie by the shoulder and steered her out of the house before she could say anything, for which she was deeply grateful because words seemed to be failing her for the moment. The door shut quietly behind them. "Make sure you've got a firm grip on my arm or - Are you sure you're alright?" He asked, peering into Evie's face with concern. "You're as pale as a sheet. Are you feeling well?"

Evie shook herself. "I'm fine. Now let's go while there's still time."

* * *

Half an hour later, Evie stood alone at the entrance to Hogsmeade. Although it was Remus's job to escort her there and back, most of the inhabitants of the village knew of his lycanthropy and his presence there would attract unwanted attention. He'd returned to Grimmauld Place, where he would remain until it was time to bring her home again. 

Since arriving in Hogsmeade Evie had spent her time trying to think about her body. She concentrated on the chill in her toes, the air brushing against her cheeks, the dim gnawing in her stomach that told her she hadn't eaten enough at breakfast. She wanted to think of anything but Sirius. Anything but the feel of his lips against hers, the jolt of heat that had hit her when he'd pulled her against him. She was failing miserably.

A nearby shriek yanked Evie roughly out of the memory. She had just enough time to look up before she was engulfed in a many armed hug. Hermione had spotted her first and so was the first to pull her into a tight embrace. Harry wasn't far behind; although he was clearly surprised to see her there, he greeted her with a beaming smile and a hug. Once they stepped away Ron gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder, causing Hermione to roll her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked. "Not that I'm not happy to see you."

"I couldn't let an opportunity to come and see my little brother pass me by." Both of them grinned at her use of 'little brother' to describe Harry: he was nearly a foot taller than her.

Hermione bit her lip anxiously. "You've come on an awful day though. We've got a meeting-"

"No reason why she can't come with us," Ron interrupted. "She's not exactly likely to run and tell Umbridge, is she?"

Evie frowned. "Who's Umbridge?" She murmured to Harry.

Grimacing, he said, "I'll tell you later."

Evie was dimly aware that Ron and Hermione were still arguing about the advisability of bringing her along to their meeting, but before they could come to any conclusion Harry had begun to steer her through the streets of Hogsmeade, pointing out the various different shops and pubs on the way. Ron and Hermione appeared at their side a few moments later, having only just noticed their disappearance.

"We need to get to the Hog's Head." Hermione said.

Harry stopped walking and turned to face her. "The Hog's Head? _That's_ where we're meeting?"

Hermione held his gaze firmly. "You'd rather go into The Three Broomsticks and run into someone like Snape or Umbridge?"

"She's got a point," Ron said slowly. "The Hog's Head isn't exactly fancy, but at least we won't bump into anyone from Hogwarts."

"Alright then, but we better get going if we want to get there before everyone else." Harry said. He remained at Evie's side as they walked to the pub, allowing Ron and Hermione to walk ahead of them.

Once they were far enough ahead, Evie moved close to Harry and muttered, "Why do I get the feeling you're up to no good?"

"That might be because we're planning on setting up a secret defense society under the nose of our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And Hermione seems to have volunteered me to be its head."

Evie snorted. "Sirius would be proud."

"What makes you say that?"

She told him about the defense lessons Sirius had been giving her since Harry's return to Hogwarts, and how they mostly involved Evie being knocked to the floor. By the time she'd finished her explanation they were seated at a table at the Hog's Head, two dusty bottles of butterbeer in front of them. Harry grimaced as she finished a detailed description of the various injuries she'd received. "Sounds like I've had a better time at Hogwarts than you've had at home, and that's saying something."

Evie shrugged and sipped her butterbeer. A memory suddenly sprang to the fore of her mind and she giggled, choking on her drink. "It hasn't been all bad. Sirius tried to make a cake…"

But Harry didn't get to hear the story of Sirius's ventures into baking, because at that moment the door swung open and people began streaming into the pub. Evie's jaw dropped at the number of students there to attend the meeting. She turned to Harry to ask if they were all really there to hear him speak, but he looked just as shocked as she felt. He rounded on Hermione and began spluttering at her.

Evie felt the bench she was sitting on dip and turned to see who had taken the space next to her. George had seated himself beside her and was now grinning widely at her, much to his brother's disgruntlement. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he shrugged out of his coat.

"I felt like paying Harry a visit," She peered past George to where Fred sat. "Hi Fred."

Despite their frequent correspondence, Fred was as nervous as ever around her. He managed to smile and mutter a greeting before blushing a bright red and turning away. "What's wrong with him?" Evie asked George quietly.

"I think the more appropriate question is what's right with him. Now, look at what we got from Zonko's…"

Before Evie could find out what George had got at Zonko's, or even what Zonko's was, the room had fallen silent and everyone was staring at Hermione, who had risen to her feet. "Right," She began. "Now that we're all here…"

The next hour slipped by very quickly. Evie couldn't help but feel proud of Harry. She hadn't realised the extent of people's denial about Voldemort's return, and that Harry not only stuck so solidly to his story but was also willing to give people the skills to defend themselves both amazed and humbled her. In that hour his friends were also vastly increased in her estimation: even though they risked ridicule, they rushed to her brother's defence whenever anyone challenged him.

By the time the meeting finished Harry looked tired and terrified but also elated. They left the gloomy Hog's Head in favour of The Three Broomsticks, where Hermione had suggested it might be wise to put in an appearance so as not to arouse suspicion. Once they were comfortably seated and had a drink each, Hermione and Evie struck up a conversation about the latest advances in the field of transfiguration while Ron kept his eyes glued on Madam Rosmerta. Harry, warmed by the roaring fire and exhausted from the day's worry and lack of sleep, dozed off.

None of them noticed that he was asleep until he began to moan. Ron, who had grown accustomed to Harry's nightmares in the time they'd shared a dormitory, offered to wake him up. He leant across the table and shook him gently, trying to call his name loud enough to wake him but not so loud that the whole pub would hear him.

Harry woke with a start, knocking over his bottle of butterbeer and sloshing the golden liquid it contained onto the table. He ignored Ron and Hermione, who were asking if he was okay, and gripped Evie's arm tightly. "Those people you lived with," He said urgently. "What were they called?"

"Why do you want to-"

"What were they called?" He repeated.

"Mae and Aaron, why do you want to know?"

Harry moaned and closed his eyes. "Voldemort. He's looking for you. He sent people to… question them. Somehow they've tricked him, and he thinks they don't know you. But now they know too much about him."

Evie felt a chill run down her back. "Harry, you were just having a dream, a nightmare. You-"

"No," He said firmly. "This wasn't just a dream. I've seen into his head before and I've just done it again. He's sending Death Eaters to – to finish them."

Evie was on her feet and out the door before anyone could stop her. Harry rushed after her, but by the time he got outside she'd already apparated. Hermione and Ron appeared behind him, fear and anxiety written on their faces. Harry turned to them. "We need to get to Dumbledore. Now."

* * *

Evie reappeared at the base of the hill that led to her home. She knew something was wrong before she even opened her eyes: the smell of smoke hung heavily all around her. Her eyes flew open and she let out a strangled cry. Black clouds of smoke were billowing into the air, and from where she stood she could see flames dancing against the darkening sky. 

Before she knew what she was doing, her legs were carrying her up the hill. She didn't know what she was hoping to see once she reached the top. There was no pretending that this was an accident: someone had attacked her aunt and uncle. If she found no one at the top then she would at least know that they hadn't perished in the fire, but it could also mean that they were in the hands of the Death Eaters who were surely responsible.

She gained the top of the hill and began to scan the area for any signs of movement. The smoke stung her eyes and clawed at her throat, making it difficult for her to do anything other than try not to choke. Her wand lay forgotten in her pocket, and even if she did have the presence of mind to use it to clear some of the air, she didn't have the concentration to perform the charm successfully.

Breathing shallowly, she began once again to run. She circled the burning cottage once, twice, and found nothing. There was no movement, no sound of voices calling out to her, no signs of life at all. Desperation rising, she sank to her knees, tears stinging her eyes. She wouldn't have noticed it if she had remained standing, but from her position on the floor she could just about see it: the singed edge of a robe extruding from underneath a miraculously unharmed bush.

Jolting to her feet, she hurried to the bush in a stumbling run. As she reached it, she finally remembered her wand. She yanked it from her pocket and slashed it through the air, severing the leaves and branches of the bush and sending them flying to the ground. It wasn't long before a prone figure came into view: Mae, her eyes closed and her face bloody, her chest rising and falling shakily.

"Mae!" She cried, dropping to her side. Mae's eyes opened and a small smile formed on her lips when she saw Evie. Evie reached out to pull her up but then stopped, unsure of whether or not she should move her. Instead she slipped her hand around her aunt's and clung on tightly. "Are you alright? Can you sit up? Where's Aaron?" The questions tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Mae shook her head wearily and winced at the pain the action caused. "Aaron's gone."

"Gone where?" Evie asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Mae closed her eyes. "Gone." She whispered.

The tears that had formed in Evie's eyes earlier were now running freely down her cheeks. She hastily wiped them away with the back of her free hand, ordering herself not to do anything that would cause Mae more upset. "We need to get you out of here," She said. Although she tried to keep her tone firm and calm, she couldn't prevent the tremor that entered her voice. "If you can help me get you standing then I can get you away. I'll take you somewhere safe, to people who can help."

Mae shook her head again. "Too late. Too late."

"No," Evie said, pulling out her wand. "Don't say that." She directed it at Mae and wracked her mind for the incantation that would levitate her, but before she had a chance to remember it Mae had knocked the wand out of her hand.

"Too late," She repeated. "The book!" She said urgently, a frantic look suddenly crossing her face. "You got the book?"

"Yes, auntie, but please let me help you." She gently pulled her head onto her lap and held her as she'd held Sirius what seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Sorry," Mae whispered. "So sorry."

Evie wanted to tell her not to be sorry, that she had nothing to apologise for, but her voice seemed trapped by the lump that had formed in her throat. Mentally shaking herself, she scrunched her eyes shut and forced herself to speak. "There's nothing to be sorry for. Now I'm going to get you out of here, I just need you to help me a little bit, alright Mae? Mae?"

Mae didn't answer. Evie's eyes flew open. Mae stared up at the smoke stained sky, her normally warm gaze now fixed and lifeless. The chest that had been rising and falling in sporadic bursts since Evie found her now lay still. As realisation hit her, she gathered the body of her aunt into her arms and pressed her face into her hair. She couldn't find any trace of Mae's scent, the smell that meant home, comfort and love. There was only the reek of fire and death.

Something broke. A cry ripped out of Evie's chest, and it wasn't like any sound she'd ever made before. It was raw and animalistic, and echoed with the sudden shock of grief. If she had been anyone else, and had been standing nearby to hear it, she would have shuddered.

Blinded by tears, senses numbed by her pain, she didn't notice the slight shimmer that rose from Mae's body. She didn't see it gliding through the air, didn't notice it moving towards her. The first time she felt it was when it slammed into her body. It lifted her off her knees, sent her flying backwards through the air and then brought her crashing to the floor again. She had just enough time to register that whatever it was was filling her, expanding her body, then the world began to slip away and everything went black.

* * *

Sirius buried his face in his hands and groaned for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He'd been scared of something like this happening for weeks, ever since the night Evie had found him having the nightmare and, instead of fleeing in fear, had put her arms around him. That night didn't so much change things between them as force him to recognise something he'd been desperately trying to ignore. 

He was every bit as crazy about her as the lovesick Fred, although he was a hell of a lot better at hiding it

He'd told himself that he'd just been too lonely for too long, and made up his mind to stay away from her as much as possible. He wouldn't force his unwanted love, his unwanted desire, on her. But it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. The defence lessons he was determined to give her forced them to be in the same room for long periods of time, and whenever they were alone together his fingers itched to touch her, to trace the lines and curves of her body.

To make things worse, Evie was hurt and confused at his sudden coldness. Whenever he saw the hurt in her eyes and knew that he was the cause he couldn't stop himself from comforting her, couldn't stop his arms from wrapping around her.

Then this morning everything had gotten out of hand. He never should have embraced her, but he was worried for her safety whilst in Hogsmeade and not looking forward to a day when her presence wouldn't brighten the gloomy house. Even now he wasn't entirely sure how it happened. One moment he was looking down at her, bitterly regretting that he couldn't be the one to escort her, and the next moment all he knew was the crush of her lips against his and the tentative brush of her fingers against his skin and hair. He wondered what would have happened if Remus hadn't reappeared, whether he would have been able to let her go.

It was a stupid, selfish act committed without a thought for Evie or how it might hurt her. It wouldn't happen again; it _couldn't _happen again. Sirius wouldn't let it, even if it meant never being able to hug her or even be alone in the same room with her again.

The front door banged shut, startling Sirius. He looked up at the clock and frowned. He'd barely glanced up when Remus left to collect Evie and he'd been absorbed in his own brooding ever since then. It was only now that he realised how late it was: Remus should have returned with Evie an hour ago at the very least.

Sirius rose to his feet as Remus crashed through the kitchen door, looking as pale and haggard as if he'd just been cornered by a banshee. Sirius didn't notice this straight away; his first thought was that Remus was alone.

"Where is she?" He asked. "What's happened?"

Remus's face told him all he needed to know before he even opened his mouth. "She's gone."


	22. Prison

"Gone," Sirius repeated quietly. "What do you mean? How can she be gone?"

"Sirius, maybe you should sit down before-"

"I'm not doing anything until you tell me why Evie isn't here."

"Sirius," Said a gentle but firm voice behind Remus. "Sit down and we will explain everything to you." Dumbledore stepped out of the hallway and into the kitchen. He took a seat at the table and gestured for Remus to do the same. Deciding that the best way to get information was to obey, Sirius quickly sat down next to Dumbledore. It was then that he noticed the smell: the stench of smoke clung to both of the men.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked.

"Evie met up with Harry and his friends as planned, but it seemed that during the course of the day Harry was tired enough to fall asleep in The Three Broomsticks." Dumbledore explained. "He had a dream – not a normal one, but one that took him into Voldemort's mind again."

"He heard him giving orders," Remus said grimly. "He'd tracked down Evie's guardians and was ordering Death Eaters to kill them."

"And Harry told this to Evie?"

Dumbledore nodded. "She'd left before he could stop her."

Sirius was on his feet again in an instant. "Then why are we all still sitting here? We should be going after her!"

"Sit down, Sirius," Dumbledore said wearily. "Remus and I have already been to the house of her guardians. Harry had the sense to seek me out after Evie left, and he crossed paths with Remus on his way to find me. After hearing his story, we went in search of her. We found the bodies of her guardians, their house burned to the ground, but no sign of Evie."

"So they have her?" Sirius whispered. He had no choice but to sit down now; all of the strength had deserted his body.

"Not necessarily," Dumbledore said. "If Voldemort knew that Evie's guardians, Mae and Aaron, had any link to her then he would have used them to trap her. Harry heard that Voldemort was convinced they didn't know Evie, and their murders were to stop them alerting anyone to his return. That means that Evie wasn't lured there and kidnapped."

"What if Harry heard wrong?" Sirius asked, his voice a hoarse croak.

"The evidence suggests that he heard right," Remus answered. "Evie wouldn't even have known about the attack on her guardians if it wasn't for Harry, and Voldemort had no way of knowing that they were meeting today. If killing her guardians was supposed to lure Evie to somewhere she could be taken, then he would have made absolutely sure that she knew he had them."

"So where is she?" Sirius demanded. "If she hasn't been taken then why isn't she here?"

"I won't pretend there isn't a possibility that she has been captured," Dumbledore said. "The Death Eaters sent to kill Mae and Aaron may have stayed behind to revel in their work, and she could have been taken by them," The disgust and anger that had filled his face when he'd first mentioned the Death Eaters drained away, and was replaced by a great sadness. "But I find it far more likely that Evie has simply gone away on her own somewhere to be with her grief."

A long silence followed Dumbledore's last words, broken only by the crackling of the fire in the grate. Sirius stared, unblinking, at the floor. Eventually he looked up and said, "That's it? You're not even going to look for her?"

"Of course we're going to look for her," Dumbledore said sharply. "I have half of the Order searching the countryside surrounding Mae and Aaron's house, and I will be joining them shortly. We cannot afford to discount the possibility that she was taken, and even if she hasn't been she's in more danger alone in the open than she could ever guess at."

"I'm going with you to look for her." Sirius said.

"You are not." His voice was once again gentle, but it left no doubt that he wouldn't be argued with.

"You expect me to sit here," Sirius spluttered, "And do nothing while-"

"That's exactly what I expect you to do. No, it's not fair, but it is necessary. How do you think Evie will feel, returning here after losing the closest thing she has to parents to find that she's lost her godfather as well?"

"I can't just-"

"You will. I'm afraid you don't have any choice in the matter. I've already cast charms that will prevent you from leaving the house until Evie has returned."

Sirius was speechless. Even the normally calm Remus looked shocked at this news. "So you've made me a prisoner here?" Sirius murmured.

Dumbledore rose to his feet. "I am truly sorry, Sirius. This is something I never wished to do but for your safety and the wellbeing of Evie I believe it is necessary. Now come, Remus. We have much ground to cover and very little time." With a last look at Sirius, Dumbledore swept out of the kitchen and headed to the front door.

Remus hurried out of his chair. "If we find out anything you'll be the first to know," He told Sirius. "I promise." Looking slightly guilty, he followed Dumbledore. A few moments later Sirius heard the door shut and knew he was alone.

* * *

It was like his first night in Azkaban. Sirius knew that he didn't have a lot of freedom; twelve years in a cell and then months on the run had taught him that lesson well. But since fleeing his cage and allying himself with the Order he'd thought he at least had some. He could take his dog form and wander the streets if he just had to leave the house; he could step outside and feel the air on his face. It may not seem that important to most people, but to Sirius it meant the world. It meant the difference between incarceration and liberty, the difference between being under orders and being his own man. Now it seemed that even that tiny shred of freedom had been an illusion. 

The first thing he did when left alone was to test Dumbledore's claim that he couldn't leave the house. It turned out that Dumbledore hadn't been bluffing: Sirius threw himself at every door and window, was knocked back onto the floor until his whole body ached and throbbed, but still the charms wouldn't give way. He was trapped.

That was when the anger started. He'd returned to the kitchen, calmly shut the door, and then proceeded to tear the room apart. He preferred to use his hands rather than his wand; it was immensely more satisfying to hurl a cup at the wall and watch it explode rather than destroy it with a flick of his wand. In the end he stopped the demolition not because his anger had abated, but because he was exhausted.

Even as he lay in the wreckage of the kitchen fury coursed unchecked through his body, making his fists convulsively clench and unclench. His anger turned itself on different targets in turn. Dumbledore for locking him up. Remus for allowing it to happen, for not fighting for his friend. Even Evie for rushing off into danger, although he would have done the same if he thought his loved ones were being hurt. Most of all he raged at himself. Once again someone who meant everything to him was in grave danger, and once again he was doing nothing about it. It was just like when Harry had faced Voldemort in the summer and he hadn't even known. Just like the night James and Lily were murdered and he'd arrived too late.

The thought of eating or sleeping didn't even cross his mind. At one point he noticed that sunlight was creeping through the window, and realised he must have spent the whole night lying on the kitchen floor. Shortly after dawn the bell rang. In an instant he was on his feet and running, heart in his throat, to the door. But when he opened it he found only Arthur and Molly Weasley, both looking worse for wear. They'd spent the better part of the night looking for Evie and afterwards had been ordered by Dumbledore to return to Grimmauld Place to await any news.

Sirius was vaguely aware of Molly pulling him into a tight hug and murmuring what were probably supposed to be comforting words, but couldn't really feel or hear any of it. He turned his back on both of them and climbed the uneven stairs to Evie's room. Once there, he wasn't sure whether he wished he'd come sooner or whether he regretted setting foot in the place. Being there was both terrible and wonderful, a comfort and a harsh reminder that the owner of the room was gone.

He walked around the room, touching Evie's belongings but not picking them up. He didn't want them to be out of place if – when, _when_ – she returned. Eventually he lay down stiffly on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. It occurred to him that he could actually _feel _her absence from the house. It was as if they were somehow connected by an invisible vine or tendril that constantly hummed and vibrated, letting him know that she was near and safe. Now either the thread that ran between them had fallen silent or it had been severed because he felt nothing but her absence, like a gaping hole.

At several times throughout the day Molly visited him and tried to persuade him to eat something, but each time he refused. The only thing that moved him from the room was Remus, who returned just as dusk was beginning to set in again. Sirius listened to him long enough to ascertain that they hadn't found any sign of Evie and then lapsed back into his own thoughts.

Everyone moved into the kitchen, which had been repaired by either Molly or Arthur. At any other time Sirius would have been amazed by their wand work: the only sign of his earlier rampage was the odd chip of china from a cup or plate that had just been too damaged to repair. They all sat around the table in silence, heads bent, avoiding each others eyes.

Shortly before midnight Arthur and Molly left for the Burrow. Arthur needed to be at the Ministry in the morning and Molly wanted to rejoin the hunt at first light, so both of them needed a solid sleep. Sirius and Remus were left alone. Remus seemed to know better than to try and talk to Sirius, who was still angry with him for not supporting him against Dumbledore.

The doorbell rang just as Remus announced that he was heading to bed. Sirius allowed him to answer the door. It would just be another member of the Order announcing that they hadn't found anything. He couldn't stand the disappointment of opening the door and finding anyone but Evie there. The moment Remus left the kitchen he covered his face with his hands and shut his eyes tight.

There was a yelp and then footsteps thudded down the corridor, back towards the kitchen. Sirius looked up sharply as Remus kicked the door open. As his eyes fell on what he was carrying he thought he felt his heart stop.

Remus cradled Evie in his arms. Her eyes were shut and her head lolled limply against his chest. Her shirt was torn open and an ugly gash marred her abdomen. Inflamed, swollen flesh circled both of her wrists. As he moved his eyes to her face, he noticed that her nose was clearly broken and a dark substance, akin to dried blood, matted her hair. Despite all this, the steady rise and fall of her chest indicated that she was still alive.

Sirius sprang across the room to her side. "Hold out your arms," Remus ordered, his voice shaky. Sirius did as he was bid and Remus gently transferred Evie from his arms to Sirius's. "You put her to bed. I'll get Dumbledore."


	23. Memory

**Please note: **My beta has advised me to tell readers that, while the overall rating of this story is a **T**, the rating for this chapter is closer to an **M**.

* * *

Sirius paced the floor of Evie's room restlessly; he had no idea what to do with himself. More than anything he wanted to reach out and touch Evie again, reassure himself that she was real and lying in front of him, but he didn't dare to. On the brief journey up the stairs he'd carried her as if she were made of glass, terrified of jolting her and making one of her injuries worse. He'd never really gotten the hang of healing magic and so there was little he could do to ease her pain. All he could do was pace and wait and hope that Dumbledore would arrive soon. 

Barely five minutes had gone by when the door swung open and Dumbledore strode inside, Remus hot on his heels. Dumbledore took one look at Evie and said, "Remus, will you try to contact Molly Weasley? Of our readily available members, she is the one most capable of dealing with injuries."

Remus nodded and hurried out of the room. Dumbledore pointed his wand at something out of Sirius's sight in the corridor. After a few seconds of nothing happening, a carved stand topped with a stone basin floated into the room. It landed on the floor with a muffled thud.

Sirius frowned. "Why have you brought a pensieve?"

"For the time being I'm unwilling to wake Evie," Dumbledore explained. "But we can't wait to find out what happened to her."

Sirius placed himself in between Dumbledore and the sleeping Evie. "You can't just invade her mind when she isn't even aware of it."

"I'm afraid there's no other choice."

"You could wait until she wakes."

"And what if her wounds are cursed?" Dumbledore snapped "Or what if she was poisoned? We need to know who had her, we need to know what they did and we need to know _now. _Otherwise we're putting her life in danger."

Reluctantly, Sirius stepped aside and allowed Dumbledore to do what he needed to. The old wizard sank to his knees at Evie's side and shut his eyes. He began to make complex patterns in the air with his wand, all the while moving his lips silently. As Dumbledore worked, Sirius watched Evie. The sight of her wounds filled him with an overwhelming anger, and he burned to know who had caused them. The idea of invading her mind was becoming less repulsive; it would be worth it if he could discover who had hurt her.

"Done!" Dumbledore murmured, rising to his feet. He quickly transferred the silver thread of memory from the tip of his wand to the pensieve, where it spread to cover the bottom of the basin.

"Wait!" Sirius said just as Dumbledore was preparing to enter the memory. "I'm coming too." Dumbledore rose an eyebrow but said nothing, instead beckoning Sirius to join him. Feeling slightly ashamed of himself, he took his place in front of the pensieve and, when Dumbledore gave the order, plunged his face into the silvery surface.

They were in the countryside, standing at the base of a hill. Although he had only seen it from a distance before he recognised it instantly as Mae and Aaron's house. Thick smoke spiralled up into the air, but Sirius barely had time to acknowledge this fact before Dumbledore had set off up the hill at a run. He was following a figure, Evie, who was stumbling her way to the top. Sirius chased after both of them.

Once they reached their destination they continued to follow Evie as she circled the burning building. They witnessed Evie's discovery of her aunt Mae and the strange conversation that followed. Sirius's heart broke for Evie when Mae died, and he longed to reach out and comfort her. The Evie in front of him, however, was a memory and couldn't be touched.

Dumbledore was the only one who noticed the strange glimmer rising from Mae's body; all Sirius saw was Evie being knocked back. He didn't have time to ask questions because the moment her eyes shut, everything began to disappear until they were shrouded completely in darkness.

Sirius's stomach lurched as the blackness began to fade away and they could see again. It was clear that Evie had been moved while she was unconscious. They were now indoors, in a stone cellar, and Evie was bound by chains. She gave her new surroundings only a brief glance before noticing that she was shackled. Two heavy iron cuffs surrounded her wrists, and from them a chain ran up to the ceiling, suspending her arms over her head. She gave the chains an experimental tug but they held firm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Sirius jumped slightly at the unfamiliar voice. He'd been so focussed on Evie that he hadn't noticed the man sitting on the other side of the cellar. Now he stood and walked towards his captive, smirking as he watched her struggle.

"You're one of them," Evie spat. "A Death Eater." There was a trace of fear in her voice, but far more prominent was anger.

The Death Eater's smirk grew wider. "Well, you're not quite as stupid as you look. The Dark Lord will be so pleased when I deliver you to him."

Evie yanked at her chains again and leant towards the Death Eater. "What are you waiting for? Take me to him."

"I take it back. You are as stupid as you look," The Death Eater came to a halt in front of her and, reaching out his hand, trailed his fingers down her cheek. Anger rose in Sirius as he saw him touch her but, after a warning look from Dumbledore, he managed to hold himself in check. Clearly enjoying Evie's disgust, the Death Eater kept his hand on her face. "At this moment the Dark Lord doesn't know you've been captured. That means we have plenty of time to play before I hand you over," Seeing the flash of fear in Evie's eyes, the Death Eater laughed and added, "He wants you alive, my dear. You don't necessarily have to be in one piece."

Evie whipped her head to the side and snapped her teeth at the hand that was still caressing her. The Death Eater pulled back just in time, missing being bitten by millimetres. Watching this, Sirius felt a burst of prise. "When I get out of these chains," Evie said, her voice quiet and dangerous. "I'll kill you for what you've done today."

The Death Eater's smirk, which had disappeared briefly during Evie's act of defiance, crept back again. "No. I don't think so," He said. He drew his wand from his pocket and, ramming the tip underneath her chin, screamed _"Crucio!" _

The effect was instantaneous. Evie's mouth opened in a silent scream of agony as her body convulsed. Her arms jerked, making the manacles bite into her wrists, and she cracked her head against the wall she was chained to. The Death Eater watched this with obvious delight, and this time it took a verbal warning from Dumbledore to keep Sirius in place. He shut his eyes tight, willing Evie's pain to end, and only opened them again when he heard her stop pulling against the chains.

The shackles were the only thing that kept her on her feet. She sagged against the wall, breathing in deep, shaky gulps. "Poor little girl," The Death Eater purred, taking a lock of her hair between his fingers. "I didn't want to hurt you, but I couldn't let you talk to me like that."

He pointed his wand at her again, but this time it was directed at her abdomen rather than her face. "Now, let's see what we have here." He said, and then brought his arm down in a quick slashing motion. Evie let out a gasp of pain as her shirt tore, and when it hung open Sirius could see that her skin had been ripped into as well. A bleeding cut ran from the bottom of her breast bone to just above her navel. The Death Eater smiled and took a step back, cocking his head to admire his handiwork.

Suddenly the anger that had deserted Evie after she'd suffered the cruciatus curse came flooding back. Even though they must have been weak from pain and being held in the same position for so long, she put most of her weight on her arms and lashed out with her foot. This time the Death Eater wasn't so quick and Evie's kick caught him on the knee, sending him crashing to the floor. She aimed another kick at his head, but he caught hold of her foot and whipped out his wand. _"Crucio!" _He snarled.

Sirius shut his eyes again, but this time he couldn't escape Evie's torment. She howled throughout the duration of the Death Eater's curse. When he finally allowed her respite she fell silent, tears beginning to course down her cheeks. The Death Eater reached out to wipe them away but Evie jerked her head to the side, avoiding his hand. He tutted quietly. "You should be grateful for my kindness, little girl."

When Evie turned her gaze on him her eyes were full of a fury Sirius hadn't known she was capable of. "You disgust me," She whispered. "I'd rather you put the cruciatus curse on me again than touch me."

"Is that so?" The Death Eater asked. He raised his wand again but seemed to change his mind before cursing her. Instead he pocketed it and loomed over Evie. Wrapping his hand around her hair, he pulled her head back and to the side and forced his lips onto hers.

"Sirius!" Dumbledore boomed. Sirius, forgetting that it was a memory, forgetting that if he tried to touch the Death Eater his hand would slide straight through him, had started towards the Death Eater with the intent of ripping one of his limbs off. Now he stopped reluctantly. "It is the past," Dumbledore said sternly. "Nothing you do will change what has already been."

"But-"

Sirius didn't get the chance to argue with his old headmaster because at that moment a scream rang through the cellar, distracting them both. The Death Eater had taken a step away from Evie and was holding his hands to his face. Blood seeped out of Evie's mouth, but it wasn't hers: she'd clearly bitten into her attacker's lip. The Death Eater let out a roar of anger and flung his fist at Evie. It connected with her nose and the resultant crack and scream of pain told Sirius that it had broken.

Clearly not satisfied with the pain he had already caused, the Death Eater pulled out his wand and made to curse Evie again. He didn't get as far as saying the spell, because his attention was drawn to something shimmering around Evie's neck. Sirius knew what it was immediately: the locket he and Harry had given her as a gift on her birthday. He'd never seen her wear it before, but that was because one of its properties was that it could become invisible. However, for it to remain invisible required some willpower from the wearer and Evie was steadily being drained of hers.

Ignoring Evie's protests, the Death Eater broke the slender chain and pulled the locket from around her neck. As he opened it and found the photographs inside his smile reappeared, even more sinister now thanks to the blood surrounding his mouth. "Potter, of course. But also a werewolf and a convict," His smile widened at her obvious discomfort that he'd found the photographs. "An odd choice of people to keep close to your heart. Do you wonder where these three are now? Do you think they're looking for you?"

"You really do like the sound of your voice, don't you?" Evie spat, her own voice slightly distorted due to her broken nose.

Pretending that she hadn't said anything, the Death Eater continued. "Do you think they'll rescue you?"

"Well they wouldn't have any trouble with you," Evie said. "But then again, I wouldn't have had any trouble with you if you'd tried to kidnap me while I was conscious."

"I suppose we'll see. As I've said, the Dark Lord will be more than grateful when I hand you over to him. He might give me one of them as a reward, to play with just as I've played with you." He moved back to her and once again began toying with her hair. This time she didn't jerk away from him, but stared at him with furious eyes, her face pale and jaw clenched. "Obviously I won't get Potter," He continued. "But Lupin and Black, they're fair game."

"You won't hurt them. I won't let you." Now her whole body trembled with suppressed anger.

The Death Eater chuckled lightly. "You don't really have a say in the matter. I'll hurt them until they can't take it anymore, and then I'll tell them exactly what I did to you. Then I'll ki-" He broke off in mid sentence, his eyes widening. For a few moments he stood completely still and then, without warning, slumped forwards onto Evie. At the same moment he fell, the shackles holding her opened and she dropped as well.

Sirius shot a questioning glance at Dumbledore, but his eyes were riveted on the scene that was unfolding before them. Not stopping to question what had just happened, Evie hurriedly rolled the Death Eater onto his back. After some brief rummaging in his robe she found her wand, then prised the locket out of his hand and hurried out of the cellar as fast as her exhausted legs could carry her.

The cellar faded and Sirius felt a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly he was back in Evie's room, standing at Dumbledore's side in front of the pensieve. Dumbledore turned to talk to Sirius, but then caught a glance of his face and quickly looked away again. Sirius touched his cheeks with his fingertips and, when they met moisture, realised he'd been crying. Angrily wiping the tears away, he asked, "What happened then?"

"The Death Eater died." Dumbledore replied simply, seating himself in the chair at the desk.

Following his lead, Sirius moved over to the bed and perched himself on it, laying a gentle hand on Evie's shoulder. "Are you sure he's dead?" He asked, half hoping that he wasn't so he could kill him himself.

"Positive. The enchantments on the chains holding Evie wouldn't have broken if he hadn't died."

"But how?" Sirius asked, frowning. "She couldn't have done it; she didn't even have her wand."

Dumbledore sighed. "I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you. I'm sure that in time I will discover more, but for the moment…" He trailed off and cast a sad look over at Evie. "It was wise not to wake her. She needs sleep and healing. Speaking of which, I will go and see if Remus has managed to contact Molly yet." He rose and began to leave. When he reached the door, he turned back to Sirius. "You're staying?"

"I'm not leaving her." Sirius replied firmly.

Dumbledore nodded. "Very well. But remember what I said about not waking her."

"I wouldn't disturb her for the world."

The moment the door closed behind Dumbledore, Sirius slumped. Getting off the bed, he sank to his knees and rested his head lightly against Evie's shoulder. "I'm sorry," He murmured. "I'm so sorry for letting this happen to you. But you're home now, and you're safe. I promise I won't let anything touch you again."

He remained like that a few moments more, unwilling to give up his closeness to her. When his knees began to ache he reluctantly got back to his feet. At first when he stood up he didn't notice it; if he hadn't decided to cover her over with a blanket he probably wouldn't have been the first one to discover it.

Evie's wounds were gone. The inflamed skin around her wrists was now smooth and unmarred. Her shattered nose had somehow returned to its normal shape, and was as straight as it had been before. When Sirius pushed aside her torn shirt, it was to find no trace of the cut. The only evidence that Evie had ever been injured were a few flakes of dried blood that still clung to her skin.


	24. More Questions Than Answers

The inhabitants of Grimmauld Place, along with Mrs Weasley and Dumbledore, crowded around Evie's bed. The three who had seen her injuries earlier in the night now couldn't quite believe their eyes. Mrs Weasley, the only one among them who hadn't been there when Evie arrived, was deeply sceptical about what the others said about the extent of her wounds. Dragging her eyes away from the slumbering young woman, she turned to Sirius. "You're sure about what you saw? You weren't… overreacting?"

Before Sirius even had the chance to open his mouth, Dumbledore answered for him. "We all saw them, Molly," He said gently. "I know my eyesight isn't what it was, but I don't think my eyes warped the reality to such an extent."

Reddening slightly, Mrs Weasley said, "Alright then, did any of you heal her?" She looked from Sirius to Remus.

Once again Dumbledore was the one to answer her. "None of us here have the skill to do something like this. I doubt that even our dear Madam Pomfrey would be able to heal so much in such a small amount of time."

They all fell silent again, each of them lost inside their own thoughts. Eventually it was the distant chiming of a grandfather clock that brought them back to reality. Dumbledore was the first to speak. "I have to be getting back to Hogwarts; I need to be there when the students begin to wake. Molly, I'm sorry to have called you down here in the middle of the night but it looks like you're no longer needed. You're free to return home."

"Are you sure? I can stay and help."

"Go home and get some sleep," Remus said. "We can manage here. Although if we do need any extra help, we promise you'll be the first one to know."

Mrs Weasley hesitated for a moment, clearly torn between concern for Evie and a desire to return to The Burrow. "Alright," She said eventually. "Arthur will want to know how she is before he has to go to work anyway. But if you do need me, I'll be here right away."

Remus murmured his thanks and then escorted her from the room. As soon as their footsteps had faded Dumbledore lay a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "I'll return tonight to talk to Evie. There's something I need to discuss with her."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? She's only just come back."

"I'm afraid it can't wait. I won't put her through any unnecessary stress, I assure you, but it's vital that I speak to her as soon as possible." When Sirius nodded mutely Dumbledore continued. "Let her sleep, but not for too long. She needs to eat, and to know that she's back amongst friends."

Sirius nodded again and Dumbledore turned to leave. Halfway to the door he paused and, keeping his back turned to Sirius, began to speak. "Don't do anything to hurt her, Sirius. Even if it seems like you're only offering comfort, you might be doing more damage than you know."

Sirius frowned, for a moment unable to comprehend what he meant. Then, in a rush of understanding, it hit him. Earlier on Dumbledore had been in Evie's mind, sifting through her memories. At the time Sirius had been too distracted to worry about what Dumbledore might find there concerning him; but now it occurred to him that he might have stumbled across a very recent memory, the one he himself had been trying to forget so desperately. Hot shame bubbled in his stomach and he began to tell Dumbledore that he wouldn't do anything to hurt Evie, but when he turned around he found that he had gone.

* * *

When Evie woke, light was just starting to creep into the sky. For a few seconds after waking she suffered dizzying disorientation, unsure of whether she was in her room at Grimmauld Place or still locked in the Death Eater's cellar. Slowly, the memories of the few hours before she lost consciousness trickled back. She remembered wandering unfamiliar streets for hours, too weak and tired to even levitate a feather, let alone apparate. In the end it was terror of the Death Eater hunting her down that allowed her to find the strength she needed to get herself home. Then she remembered the amazement on Remus's face as he opened the door to her, and the feel of his arms closing around her as she fell. After that everything was black. 

She sat up and tentatively stretched out her arms and legs. The soreness that she expected to encounter didn't come, and when she looked down at herself it was to find that her injuries had healed over. Reaching a hand up to her nose, she found that it was back to its normal shape and size. She wasn't entirely surprised by this: Harry had once told her that he'd had to re-grow all of the bones in his arms over the course of a night, so mending a bone that was merely broken wouldn't be too much hassle.

A shiver of fear ran through her as she looked up and realised that there was someone else in the room, but it died quickly. It was Sirius, sitting in a sagging armchair that he must have transfigured. His long legs were stretched out in front of him and his head lolled backwards against a pillow that leaked feathers. His wand hung limply in his fingers, as if he'd fallen asleep whilst on guard.

Evie swung her legs over the side of the bed and got to her feet. Realising that she was still wearing the clothes she'd put on to go to Hogsmeade, she quickly crossed the room to a wooden chest. She rummaged inside, looking for something warm to wear. Her fingers found something made of thick wool, and she pulled it out. It was a jumper, one Mae had helped her knit a couple of years ago.

Without warning, a sob rose in her throat. Her captivity and torture at the hands of the Death Eater had stunted her grief, hadn't allowed her the chance to vent the pain that had steadily built up inside of her. Now for the first time the reality of what she had lost hit her. Mae and Aaron were gone. She would never feel Aaron's bristle burning her cheek as he leant to kiss her goodnight. Mae would never teach her anything new again. The people who had taken her in and treated her as their own daughter, without a thought for their own wellbeing or safety, were dead.

Half blinded by tears, Evie stumbled back across the room and collapsed onto her bed. She drew her knees up to her chest and buried her face in the jumper. Although tears ran thick and fast down her cheeks she hardly made a noise; she didn't want to wake Sirius. Although he would only want to comfort her it would still be an intrusion on her mourning, and for the time being at least she wanted to do that on her own.

By the time her sobs finally abated the room was filled with weak October sunlight and the jumper was soaked with tears. Apart from the occasional grunt or moan, Sirius had shown no sign of waking. Evie carefully dabbed her face dry with the corner of the blanket then once again went in search of fresh clothes. Once dressed, she carefully folded the jumper, slipped it under her pillow and headed downstairs.

Remus was in the kitchen, his head nodding over a cup of coffee. At the sound of the door opening he looked up, and a smile lit his face to see Evie. He was at her side and pulling her into a tight hug in seconds. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, happy to see her friend again. After a long embrace they released each other and Remus led her over to the table.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he began to rummage through the cupboards, looking for something he could make breakfast out of.

Evie winced. "Not great, but better than last night."

The next few minutes passed in silence as Remus prepared a plate of food and Evie gulped it down. Once the nagging in her stomach had been sated, she looked up at Remus and asked, "Do you know about-" She broke off, taking a shaky breath. "About my aunt and uncle?"

Remus nodded sadly. "We know everything."

There was a long pause. "Everything?" Evie asked hesitantly.

Another nod. "When you first arrived here you had a lot of injuries. We needed to know what had caused them, so Dumbledore extracted the memory from your mind."

"What's going to happen to them now? Their bodies, I mean." She had to rapidly blink back tears that had suddenly formed when she referred to them as 'bodies'.

Looking uncomfortable, Remus averted his eyes. "They've been buried."

"Already?" Evie whispered. "Was there even a funeral?"

The look on Remus's face told her the answer. "Dumbledore suggested holding a ceremony here when you've recovered fully."

There was a loud crash from above, followed by a short yelp. Both of them raised their eyes to the ceiling. Before either of them could suggest going to investigate, footsteps hurried down the stairs and then the door flew open. Sirius stood there, his face frantic, his eyes roving the room. When he found Evie he sagged with relief and let out a shaky sigh.

"Morning." Remus and Evie greeted him at the same time.

"You're awake, then?" He asked Evie, ignoring Remus. She nodded and he began to walk towards her. At the last moment he seemed to change his mind and instead sat next to Remus. "So," He said quietly. "How are you feeling?"

* * *

To Evie's relief, the day passed quickly. Much to Remus and Sirius's surprise, she wanted to continue with her defence lessons and the construction of Sirius's present in the attic. They both tried to persuade her to rest but she flatly refused. If she had nothing to keep her occupied then she wouldn't be able to keep her thoughts from straying to Mae and Aaron, or the hours spent with the Death Eater. Eventually they reached separate compromises: Sirius and Evie wouldn't practice any spells that could harm her; instead they would work on the strength of her patronus. Up in the attic, Remus did most of the work while Evie directed him. 

Evie preferred the time spent with Remus. Sirius's behaviour was bordering on being hurtful again. He hadn't touched her since she came back, let alone hugged her, and sometimes he found it difficult to even look at her. She wondered whether he was angry or upset at her for getting captured, but she didn't spend too much time dwelling on it. There was already enough to be upset about.

Shortly after ten that night, when they were all lounging next to the fire in the living room, Dumbledore appeared. He greeted the men briefly and then moved straight onto Evie. After making inquiries about her health and voicing his sorrow about the death of Mae and Aaron, he came to why he was really there.

"Evie," He said gently. "I believe your aunt gave you a birthday present?"

"Yes, a book. Why do you-"

"Is this the same book she spoke to you about yesterday?" When Evie nodded he said, "May I see it?"

After a brief pause Evie nodded and went to collect the book from her room. When she returned and handed it to Dumbledore he didn't open it, only gave the cover a cursory glance. "May I take this back to Hogwarts with me?"

Evie frowned. "Why?"

"I believe this is a rather special book, Evie. That's why your aunt Mae thought it so important to make sure you had it. I need to study it, but it will take time."

There was another pause, this one much longer than the first. "Do you really think that Mae thought this was important?" Dumbledore nodded. "And you'll be careful with it?"

"Of course." Dumbledore replied.

"Then you can take it. But keep it safe."

Dumbledore smiled. "Thank you. A week, Evie, and then the book is yours again."


	25. Dumbledore's Theory

_Keep mixing, and put your arm into it. We'll be here all day at this rate._

_I'd be done by now if you'd let me use my wand._

_There's pleasure in doing things the muggle way, love. Besides, it's a good lesson in patience. _

Evie looked very much like she did on the day Mae taught her how to bake. Sleeves rolled up to her elbows, eyebrows drawn together in a frown of concentration. Splodges of flour covered her face, arms and clothes. That lesson with her aunt had been the first of many, but it was the one that stuck out most clearly in her mind. Now, as she measured, mixed and poured, Mae's voice floated through her head, offering advice and criticism.

Behind her, cluttering the table, were several plates of food. Cake, bread, crumpets, scones; everything had been made by Evie and judged by her to be passable. Anything she found the slightest flaw in was quickly dispatched with a flick of her wand.

Although she'd been at work for hours, the sun was still rising and the other two inhabitants of Grimmauld Place had only just woken. The dark circles under her eyes and the rather haggard expression she wore attested that she'd had little sleep lately. Just getting to sleep was difficult, but when she did manage to doze off she was plagued by nightmares. Sometimes she saw the lifeless corpses of her aunt and uncle; other times she saw the leering face of the Death Eater as he raised his wand to torture her.

Her fingers, made clumsy by weariness, fumbled the lump of dough she was shaping. It slipped out of her grasp and fell to the grubby stone floor. For a moment she stood staring at the ruined mixture, filled with inexplicable anger and despair. Since the morning after her return to Grimmauld Place she hadn't cried for Mae and Aaron, and now she found tears prickling her eyes because of dough.

She pointed her wand at the now useless lump and it disappeared. Moving slowly, she collected the ingredients she would need to make more and began to measure them out. As she worked, she didn't try to prevent the tears that slid slowly down her cheeks.

_Chin up, gal,_ Aaron murmured in her mind. _It'll turn out right in the end._

* * *

Sirius leaned against the wall, peering through a crack in the kitchen door. He was biting his lip anxiously, something he hadn't done since his days at Hogwarts. His eyes followed Evie as she continued her frantic baking. As she turned, he caught a glimpse of her face, the shining tear tracks, and let out a sigh. 

"Is she still at it?" Remus murmured, coming to stand at Sirius's side. He nodded and Remus echoed his sigh of a few moments before. "What are we going to do?"

Sirius shrugged, feeling helpless. "There's not much we can do."

"How would you know?" There was sudden bitterness in Remus's voice. "You haven't even tried."

Turning to face him, Sirius frowned. "What are you talking about? Of course I've-"

"No you haven't," Remus kept his voice quiet so as not to alert Evie to their presence, but the anger in it was unmistakable. "For the past week you've hardly said two words to her."

Shame rose in Sirius's throat and threatened to choke him. "I've been – I didn't mean – It's for her own good!"

"For her own good," Remus repeated quietly. "How is this possibly helping her?"

"You don't understand! You don't know everything that's happened!"

"It doesn't matter what's happened!" Remus hissed. "Her family has been murdered, her heart's broken and you're treating her like she has dragon pox!"

"I didn't mean to-"

"It doesn't matter what you 'meant' to do. It's what you are doing that's important, and what you're doing is letting down James and Lily's daughter." Sirius fell silent, unable to think of a single argument in his defence. When he'd decided to distance himself from Evie he'd thought he was helping her; but in reality all he'd done was desert her when she needed him the most. Remus spoke again, but this time his voice was much softer. "She needs you, Sirius. I've helped all I can but the Order needs me; I have to leave today."

"What do I do?" Sirius asked hesitantly. "How do I help her?"

"Just talk to her." Remus said, looking pointedly at the kitchen door.

"Now?" Sirius asked "You want me to talk to her _now_?"

"No time like the present." Remus laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle push towards the door. Sirius entered the kitchen hesitantly but made no attempts to back away. As soon as he was inside Remus shut the door. The noise must have alerted Evie because she called out a sleepy good morning, although she didn't look up from whatever she was doing.

"Good morning," Sirius said quietly. Evie started at the sound of his voice, and guilt surged through Sirius that she was surprised he was talking to her. She stole a glance over her shoulder, as if to make sure that it was really him, and then continued kneading a ball of dough. "It looks like you've been busy." He commented, eyeing the food laden table.

Evie shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. I needed something to do."

"Why can't you sleep?"

She gave a non committal jerk of her head and murmured, "Bad dreams."

"About… About that day?"

Her shoulders sagged and she sighed. "Yes. That day. This'll never do," She said abruptly, straightening again and jabbing her wand at the dough. It disappeared, leaving only small trails of flour behind. "It was all wrong. I'll have to start again."

Sirius hurried across the room to stand at her side. Before she could reach out for any new ingredients he wrapped his fingers around her slender wrist, preventing it from moving. She looked up at him quizzically. "You need to eat and sleep," He explained. "You can carry on with all this later," Evie tried to pull away but he tightened his grip. When she winced at the pain this caused he hastily loosened his hold, but didn't relinquish it. "Please, Evie," He said, almost pleading. "You need to rest."

"Why?" She whispered.

"Because you're running yourself down with all this-"

"No," She interrupted. "Why do you care?" Sirius was shocked into silence. When Remus had come close to accusing him of not caring about Evie there had been bitterness and anger in his voice. In Evie's he could only hear sadness and a bone deep weariness that no one of her years should know. It worried him, perhaps as much as her apparent conviction that she meant so little to him. When he remained silent Evie continued, and now there was an edge of desperation in her voice. "Have I done something to make you angry? Was it going off on my own? Was it getting captured? I don't under-"

Evie's voice turned into a squeak as Sirius pulled her into a bone crushing hug. Like kissing her, it was another one of those things he hadn't meant to do. He'd gone to her with the intention of talking only, of perhaps persuading her to get some much needed rest; but then she'd opened her mouth and the worry and fears of the past week came tumbling out. He knew he was responsible for at least some of them, and he was doing the first thing that came to mind to go some way to assuaging them.

"Running off into danger on your own wasn't a good idea, but I'm not going to pretend that I wouldn't have done it if you or Harry were in trouble. I can't be angry with you for wanting to protect those you love," At first when he wrapped his arms around her she had been tense, but now she began to relax into his hold slightly. "I'm furious about the Death Eater," She stiffened again but he stroked her hair reassuringly. "But I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with the toad slime that hurt you."

A tremor ran through Evie and it wasn't long before Sirius realised that she was crying. He rested his lips against her hair and muttered soothing, meaningless words. Eventually her shudders subsided and she pulled back, wiping her eyes. "Then why have you been ignoring me?" She choked through a final sob.

Sirius sighed. "That was stupid of me. Now isn't the time to explain, but please believe me when I say that it wasn't your fault."

"Why can't you tell me now?"

"It's a long story, and you need sleep. Dumbledore is coming tonight and it's always best to be well rested when he shows up. You never know what he's got in store for you."

Evie shook her head vehemently. "No. I don't want to go to sleep. I keep seeing…" She broke off, another sob rising in her throat.

"I know a thing or two about nightmares myself," He said gently. "Would it help if I was there?"

"Maybe." She said quietly.

"Let's give it a go, then." Sirius slipped an arm around her waist and half led, half carried her to bed.

* * *

Later that night, a slightly less melancholy Evie, who had benefited from a few hours of solid sleep, Sirius and Dumbledore were sat once more around the fire in the living room. None of them liked the room; it was one that had gone relatively unscathed by Mrs Weasley's cleaning over the summer, and so still bore many of the signs that it had been lived in by dark wizards. They all preferred the kitchen which, despite all of its stone, had a much cosier feel. However, tonight Dumbledore had insisted they move to the living room. 

"Was the book helpful?" Evie asked.

"Indeed it was," Dumbledore said. "Very illuminating. I've drawn some conclusions from it, but they are by no means fact. I'm hoping that you, Evie, will help to confirm my hypotheses."

"Me?" She said, startled. "What can I do?"

"Firstly, we need to fill you in on some important information you may have missed. Sirius, have you told her about her healed wounds?" Sirius shook his head in response and Dumbledore turned his attention back to Evie. "Well, my dear, when you returned to us you were quite damaged. Before any of us had a chance to heal your wounds, they vanished."

"Vanished?" She repeated.

"Healed. By themselves."

"Is that even possible?" She asked.

"Not usually, no. You appear to have been able to heal yourself without even being conscious."

"But that-that's impossible!" She spluttered. "I've never done that before."

"I believe it's a new ability. Inherited from Mae," He said softly. "When you arrived I entered your memories to see if you had been more severely wounded than I knew. I saw something pass between you and Mae at the point of her death. It was almost invisible, no more than a shimmer, but it knocked you unconscious."

"But Mae couldn't… She never…"

"Wasn't Mae an extraordinary healer?" Dumbledore asked, his voice gentle but firm.

"She was a skilled witch and she knew her remedies!" Evie protested. "There's a difference between having a natural affinity for something and this!"

"This is precisely why I need your help. We need to know if my theory has any truth or if it's just the ramblings of an old wizard."

After a long silence, Evie asked hesitantly, "What do you want me to do?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Excellent! I'm going to have to make a cut on your arm-"

"Now hang on," Sirius growled, rising from his seat. He moved over to where Evie sat and placed a protective hand on her shoulder. "You're not hurting her any more than she already has been."

"I'm afraid there's no other way, Sirius."

"You'll just have to think of another-" He broke off as Evie's hand found his. She squeezed it gently and smiled up at him weakly.

"It's alright, really it is. He won't hurt me any more than he needs to." Sirius didn't look at all happy, but after Evie's reassurance he didn't protest further, instead settling for throwing glares at Dumbledore.

"As I was saying," Dumbledore began. "I'll need to make a small cut on your arm. After that I need you to conjure a patronus for me."

"A patronus?" Sirius frowned. "What for?"

"As you can attest, Evie's wounds didn't heal straight away. I believe something happened to make her feel, if not happy, then at least safe, and that began the healing. The patronus requires a very happy memory, so hopefully, if my theory is correct, it will be enough to heal Evie's cut."

Evie rose from her seat and began to roll up the sleeve of her shirt. "I'm ready." She told Dumbledore, who quickly moved to her side. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her arm straight. Murmuring an apology, he brought his wand down in a quick slashing motion. Evie winced as a thin cut ripped across her flesh. Bringing her own wand up, she concentrated with all her might on the happiest memory she could think of. It took a lot longer than usual, but eventually she found something suitable. Feeling the intent gazes of both Dumbledore and Sirius upon her, she cried _"Expecto Patronum!"_ The familiar silver lioness burst from the end of the wand and bounded across the room. It soon faded away because Sirius's cry of surprise broke her concentration. Looking down, she discovered that the cut had disappeared.

Sirius rushed forwards, looking both scared and happy. "This is wonderful!" He cried. "You'll never be hurt again." Dumbledore, on the other hand, collapsed into his chair, a grim expression on his face. Evie knew how he felt; all of the energy had left her body, not from the effort of healing, but from shock.

"I'm afraid you've proved my theory." Dumbledore said wearily.

"You're 'afraid' she's proved it?" Sirius asked incredulously. "It's fantastic!"

"This power has its drawbacks. Evie, would you care to explain the story inside the book to Sirius?"

Slightly surprised by the sudden request, she nevertheless complied. "It's the myth of Demeter, Persephone and Hades. Persephone, Demeter's daughter, is abducted by Hades and brought to the underworld to be his queen. Demeter, who brings the harvests, is so grief stricken at the loss of her daughter that no crops come. The starvation of the people forces Hades to let Persephone return to her mother. But he plays a trick on her that means for half of the year she has to return to the underworld. When Demeter has her daughter the world is bountiful, but when Persephone has to return to Hades it begins to die."

"The book is they key to explaining Evie's power," Dumbledore explained quietly. "That's why Mae was so frantic to make sure Evie had it. As we've seen, when Evie is happy, or feels safe, her power gives life and healing. But it has a flip side. When she is sad, or furious, or perhaps fearing for her life…"

Evie didn't need Dumbledore to finish his sentence. Realisation was dawning. In her mind she saw the Death Eater. The Death Eater who had, without being attacked by any wand or blade, collapsed on top of her, dead.


	26. Fears

"Well?" Sirius prompted. "What is it? What's the flip side?" Evie scrambled to her feet and flew from the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Sirius caught a quick glimpse of the fresh tears on her face before she disappeared, and looked at Dumbledore, perplexed. "What's wrong?"

"Think about her memory, Sirius. Think about what you saw, what we both saw."

"I don't understand."

"The Death Eater." Dumbledore said impatiently.

"What about the..." His sentence hung unfinished in the air. In his mind's eye he saw the wicked face of the Death Eater as he tortured Evie. He heard his threats about himself, Remus and Harry, and remembered how Evie had trembled with terror and fury. Then he saw the Death Eater's eyes widen with shock, his limp body falling to the floor. "She killed him, didn't she?" He asked quietly.

"Yes. She didn't mean to, that much is obvious, but this new power killed him." Dumbledore rose and pulled his travelling cloak around his shoulders. "Now I must be leaving."

"You're going? _Now_? You can't leave her like this!"

"I don't have any choice," Dumbledore sighed. "I need to talk to Severus as soon as possible."

Sirius's eyes narrowed. "What's he got to do with any of this?"

"Now that we know about this power we must find a way to control it. It's true that it's only activated by extreme emotional agitation but, as we've seen, when it's used the consequences can be devastating."

"I wouldn't call ridding the world of a Death Eater devastating," Sirius grumbled. "And you still haven't explained why you need Snape."

"I was planning to ask Severus to turn his considerable talents to teaching Harry occlumency. It seems that we will require his services earlier than I'd anticipated."

"No," Sirius all but snarled. "Snape's not getting his greasy talons into Evie."

Dumbledore's eyes flashed with brief anger. "Do not let an old hatred cloud your judgement, Sirius. Severus could provide Evie with exactly the kind of help that she needs."

Sirius snorted. "You know how much he hated James and you've seen how he treats Harry. Why do you think Evie will be any different?"

"I won't deny that he hasn't lost any of his old enmity towards James," Dumbledore said. "And he harbours some resentment towards Harry because of his father. But Evie bears a strong resemblance to her mother. I believe he'll do all he can to help a young woman who's so obviously the daughter of Lily Evans."

There was no arguing that Snape hadn't loved Lily in their youth. It had been the bane of James's existence at Hogwarts, fuelling the mutual hatred that the two already shared. But that did nothing to reassure Sirius, if anything it made him worry more. James had always been of the opinion that Snape's love for Lily bordered on obsession, and he was inclined to agree. What if he transferred his love to Evie? As if reading his mind Dumbledore said, "Severus knows well the difference between mother and daughter."

"I don't like this. I don't like _him_."

"Fortunately it's not required that you do either," Dumbledore had now left the living room and was walking swiftly through the corridor. "All I ask is that you do nothing to hinder Evie in her lessons. Expect Severus at the weekend," With those final words Dumbledore opened the door and disappeared into the night.

Sirius had to fight to stay on his feet. The implications of everything he'd heard tonight were finally beginning to sink in. Without the use of a wand or any other magical aid, Evie could heal. Evie could kill. _Evie is also alone, _He thought. _And probably terrified. _Neither he nor Dumbledore had bothered to follow her when she fled. On top of the harrowing events of a week before, she now knew that she was responsible for a cataclysmic power. After making this discovery, which would floor even the most experienced members of the Order, she had been left alone. Sirius couldn't help but feel that he was failing her, as he had failed her by avoiding her for the past week. Shame, a feeling he was becoming all too familiar with lately, twisted sharply inside him.

He was slightly shocked to find himself standing in front of Evie's door. Without even being aware of it, his feet had carried him there. He knocked lightly and a quiet voice invited him inside. She leaned against the wall near the window, arms crossed over her chest, eyes firmly locked on something outside. Brilliant moonlight illuminated her face, and Sirius realised that where he'd expected to see tears there were none. Her eyes were red from crying, but they had been since that morning. The miserable expression she had worn when running from the living room was gone, and in its stead was determination. She'd set her jaw in a way that he'd come to learn meant that she'd made her mind up about something and wasn't going to change it. Turning her head, she fixed her eyes on his. "I'm not sorry," She said, her voice quiet but firm.

"About what?" He asked.

"The Death Eater," She said, her gaze not wavering for a second. "I didn't mean to kill him, but I'm not sorry I did."

"Nor should you be," He said, moving to take a seat on her bed. At his words her whole stance relaxed greatly. Sirius realised that she must have been expecting a fight, some sort of reprimand for using a power she didn't know how to control and, at the time, wasn't even aware that she had. "He was hurting you and he would have handed you over to Voldemort. You would have been killed if you hadn't gotten away."

She shook her head, causing her loosely tied hair to escape its restraint and tumble down around her face. "That's not it," She said slowly. "He helped. He may not have killed Mae and Aaron, but he played a part in it. And he stayed behind to-" She broke off and took a deep breath, burying her face in her hands. Sirius noticed that her fingers trembled. "To watch. To enjoy their pain. He told me that Voldemort would get Harry, and that he'd get to torture you and Remus as a reward for finding me. I think if I hadn't been chained up I would have throttled him, I was that angry."

"It's understandable," Sirius said softly. "Anyone would have felt the same way."

"I'm not sorry," She whispered. "He was a wicked man and he would have hurt others if he'd lived. I'm just worried. What if it happens again? What if I hurt someone who doesn't deserve it?"

Sirius rose from the bed and moved to her side, pulling her into a hug. She stood stiffly in the circle of his arms for a few moments, but then relaxed against him, both embracing him and using him as a prop to keep herself upright. "You won't," He told her.

"How can you be sure?" She asked.

"Dumbledore said that the power needs extreme emotions to work. With the Death Eater you were furious, scared for your life, scared for your friends and grieving for Mae and Aaron. I can't imagine anyone you care about would cause such pain."

"I don't know," She said hesitantly. "This _thing, _whatever it is, doesn't seem very reliable."

Sirius sighed inwardly. He hadn't wanted to mention this; he'd been hoping to persuade Dumbledore to reconsider. But if it was what it took to make Evie feel secure then it was necessary. "Dumbledore is arranging lessons for you," He said.

"Lessons?"

"To teach you better control of your mind. With any luck it will help control this power."

Evie moaned, clearly relieved. "When can I start?"

"The weekend," He said, knowing without any doubt that the week was going to speed up just to spite him. "The man who will be giving you lessons is a teacher at Hogwarts, so he's only available then."

The next few minutes passed in silence. Just as Sirius was about to suggest eating or sleeping, Evie broke away from him and took a step back. "Will you tell me now?" She asked. He looked down at her, confused. In response to his silent question she added, "Why you've been avoiding me."

Sirius shuffled, suddenly wishing he was anywhere in the world but there. An evening drinking butober pus with Snape would be preferable to having to answer this question. He could feel his cheeks burning even if Evie couldn't see it in the gloom. "Now isn't the time, maybe-"

"I've already seen Dumbledore," She cut in. "I'm not exactly well rested, but I doubt I'll be getting any sleep after everything that's happened tonight. So tell me."

Sirius sighed. Her jaw was set in that way again. She wasn't going to let this go. "After what happened the morning before you went to Hogsmeade, I thought it best that I… distance myself from you."

"After what happened…" Evie trailed off as she realised what Sirius was referring to. Now her cheeks were burning, too. "Oh. That."

"Yes. _That. _It should never have happened. I'm sorry."

"Was it that bad?" She asked sadly.

"No, it was wonder-" He broke off abruptly. "That's not the point! I shouldn't have done it. I never should have forced myself on you like that," An image entered his mind of the Death Eater doing exactly that, and he couldn't prevent the shudder of revulsion that ran down his spine.

"You weren't the only one doing the kissing, Sirius." She said quietly.

He ignored the comment. "I was scared of it happening again, so I tried to stay away from you."

"Would it be so bad if it did happen again?" She asked.

He tried to tell whether she was serious or joking, but her face was unreadable. For a moment his heart pounded harder in his chest as he considered the ramifications of what she was saying. Did she feel the same way as he did? Would she be willing to accept him as something more than a friend and guide? Then reality came crashing back. Her whole world had been turned upside down in the space of a week. How could he believe that she was in a fit enough state to make such a decision? "I'm far too old for you," He growled. "Not to mention a fugitive."

She smiled, but her eyes remained sad. "In case you hadn't noticed I'm not exactly normal," She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "As for age, I feel like I'm a hundred."

"That's not the point!"

"It's _exactly _the point. But I'm not going to argue. Not now, anyway. It's been too long a day," She said, moving behind him to perch on the bottom of her bed. "For the moment just promise you won't ignore me like that again. I don't want to be lonely at the moment." 

"I promise. Now," He said, eager to steer the conversation back to safer territory. "I know you said you won't sleep but I think you should try."

She opened her mouth to tell him it'd be impossible, but she only got halfway through her sentence before she was interrupted by a large yawn. "Alright, alright," She grumbled, trying to ignore his smug grin. "I'll sleep. Will you stay with me again?"

"Of course," He hovered between the armchair he'd never got around to un-transfiguring and the bed. That morning he'd slept beside her, but after the conversation they'd just had it didn't seem appropriate anymore. In the end Evie made up his mind for him, patting the mattress and moving over to give him more room. He lay down awkwardly, worried about how he would react if she should embrace him. His concerns were for nothing: she kept to her own side of the bed, leaving a gap several inches wide between them. It was only in her sleep that she turned to face him, resting her head against his chest and draping an arm over his stomach. 


	27. Changes

The next morning Evie was woken by Sirius gently trying to extricate himself from her grasp. She lay perfectly still as he slid from beneath her arm and exited the room silently. It wasn't until she heard his footsteps receding down the stairs that she relaxed and rolled onto her back, staring wide eyed at the ceiling. She didn't want him to know that she was awake just yet. Undoubtedly he would want to speak about the events of the previous night and their repercussions, but she wasn't quite ready to think about that yet, let alone discuss it with him. The power she had inherited from Mae and its devastating consequences were just too immense for Evie to comprehend. Every time she dwelled too long on it, she almost choked on the sudden rush of fear. What if she unintentionally killed someone she cared for in the heat of anger? It was far easier for her to focus on the weekend, which would bring the man, the teacher who would show her how to rein in this violent new aspect of herself.

After a while, just as she seriously began to consider rising for the day, Sirius appeared in the doorway. He came bearing a simple but delicious breakfast, which Evie viewed as something akin to a miracle considering his talent for culinary disaster. Although she welcomed the meal, having eaten barely enough to sustain her since her return to Grimmauld Place, her unruly body constantly threatened to rebel against the food she swallowed. As she ate, she waited for Sirius to begin asking uncomfortable questions. Anxiety was a lead ball in the pit of her stomach, making it almost impossible to keep down even the smallest morsel. But her fears turned out to be unfounded. Sirius only spoke about their plans for the day, and Remus's impending return from whatever business he had been sent on for the Order. He carefully steered clear of the subjects of her newfound power, Mae and Aaron, and the sudden change in their relationship. Although she knew that avoidance of the latter was to save his blushes rather than hers, she was still deeply grateful for his consideration.

Her joy at not having to discuss difficult matters was short lived. Sometime in the early afternoon Remus returned, and it was necessary that he be informed of the startling new development of Evie's deadly power. Sirius forever earned himself a place in her good graces by offering to explain everything to Remus, but eventually she decided that it was her responsibility. Sitting in the kitchen with the man she already adored and was fast coming to love as a brother, she kept her eyes glued to the table as she told him everything. She told him in detail about her kidnapping and torture at the hands of the Death Eater, the power she had inherited from Mae and how Dumbledore had discovered its nature through a book given to her as a birthday gift by her aunt. She told him how the power had saved her life by killing the Death Eater, but that she had no control over it and was terrified that she would harm someone else by mistake.

When she finally fell silent, she didn't raise her eyes. A large part of her was scared of what she would see if she did. Under the circumstances she was coping as best she could, but she would break down if she saw fear or disgust on Remus's face. The slight rustle of his cloak was her only warning before he swept her into a hug. As he began murmuring words and comfort and reassurance, the tears that she had frequently had to blink back since waking began to spill. Once she had calmed down, he released her and she stepped back, wiping her eye on the sleeve of her shirt.

"You're not afraid of me? Or disgusted?" She asked quietly.

Remus grinned wryly. "I once asked you something very similar. How can I not accept you, when you accepted me so readily?"

The day got a lot better after that. Evie rejoiced at having both Sirius and Remus in the house, and both in relatively cheerful moods considering the situation. For the first time since the kidnapping, she wrote to Harry. For fear of the letter being intercepted, she couldn't write everything she wished to, but by the time the letter was finally complete she had still managed to use almost a foot of parchment. Despite her protests that he should rest after his mission, Remus still insisted upon resuming the creation of Sirius's present. The work was engrossing and quite often difficult, and it seemed to Evie that in the attic, hours past in the blink of an eye.

Thoughts of her new power and the loss of Mae and Aaron entered her mind several times, but she did her best to push them away. Her intense fear and grief would swallow her whole if she allowed them to take hold, so she didn't focus on them. Once she had been taught how to control the power, once the fear was eradicated, she could mourn her aunt and uncle properly. Until then she preferred to concentrate on smaller problems, such as Sirius. He kept his word and didn't ignore her, but neither did he mention the kiss they had shared or the rather intimate talk they'd had the previous night. There were times when Evie would catch him staring at her, seemingly caught up in his own thoughts, and she would be desperate to talk to him about the change between them. But Sirius had respected her that morning by not speaking of things that discomforted her, and she was determined to extend him the same courtesy.

By the time she collapsed into bed, exhausted by the day's emotional demands, she had almost given up on him ever broaching the subject. She fidgeted restlessly in the darkness, trying not to think of him but unable to help wishing he was lying at her side, as he had done more than once the day before. She missed the effortless glide into sleep that his comforting presence enabled.

She had been trying, and failing miserably, to sleep for a little over an hour when the knock came at the door. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips, and she gave silent thanks for the distraction even as her tired limbs protested at having to make a journey across chilly wooden floorboards to reach the door. Yanking it open, she found Sirius, his mussed hair and slightly dishevelled experience suggesting that he too was having a restless night.

"Couldn't sleep." He muttered.

She smiled weakly. "Me neither."

A long silence followed, during which Evie looked at Sirius expectantly and Sirius looked at anything but Evie. Finally, after several long seconds that stretched out like hours, he stepped towards her, pushing the door shut quietly behind him. With no light coming in from the hallway, the room was plunged into darkness and a gasp was startled from Evie. Before she even had the chance to think about asking him why there was a need for silence and darkness, she felt his arms sliding around her waist, pulling her against him in a tight hug. Then came the hesitant press of his lips against hers. He had avoided the subject of their relationship so carefully all day, that this came as such a shock to Evie that, for all that the embrace was a brief and tentative one, she felt she would have fallen over had Sirius not been holding her.

"Just for tonight," he said once they parted. "Just to help you sleep."

She resisted the strong urge to point out that he'd had no way of knowing that she was still awake, and so this was just an excuse, but she didn't want him to leave. Instead she moved out of his grasp and lay on the bed, positioning herself far to the side and keeping her face to the wall as she had done the previous night. To her surprise, Sirius didn't insist on maintaining a respectable distance between them, but instead lay directly behind her. Resting a hand on her hip, he curled his body around hers and buried his face in the mass of dark hair that had somehow come loose of the ponytail she had tied it back in. With the comforting weight of his arm around her and his breath tickling the back of her neck, Evie felt sure that sleep would come much quicker than she had anticipated.

* * *

Just as Sirius had guessed, the week did indeed seem to speed up just to spite him. Saturday morning found him leaning awkwardly against the hard banister that spanned the length of the stairs, staring intently at the front door. Although he hadn't seen them in half an hour, he knew exactly where Remus and Evie were. Sirius had pleaded with his old friend to keep Evie distracted for the morning, and although he hadn't told him why, from the way Remus's mouth had set in a thin, disapproving line he was almost certain that he had guessed. Warning him to 'be careful', Remus had taken Evie into the kitchen and presented her with a pile of yellowed and decaying pieces of parchments. They were what remained of the Black family archives: there were records of deaths, births, marriages, family trees, essays that various family members had penned, potion recipes, spell instructions, and correspondence. Sirius's initial response to finding the hoard hidden in Kreacher's den was to try and incinerate them. But Remus had stayed his hand, arguing that they could find useful information hidden amongst the crumbling pages. Now he was glad he had listened. Evie had set about organising them with an enthusiasm even his mother would have been proud of, had Evie not had a parent who was muggle born. 

The reason Sirius was so determined to keep Evie occupied for the morning was that he wanted to have a word with Snape when he arrived, and he most certainly didn't want her within earshot at the time. Far from having gone, his misgivings about letting Snape teach her occlumency had only increased as the week progressed. He had only intended to spend one night with Evie, but 'one night' became every night. During the day, the reasons why he couldn't love her in the way he wanted were clear. She was much younger and the daughter of his deceased best friends. He was a fugitive who faced the worst possible punishment if ever he was caught. More than that, Azkaban had changed him, and not for the better. It had taken something away from him, leaving him a broken man. Evie deserved someone whole, someone who didn't strike her and draw blood whilst in the grip of a nightmare. But when night fell, his perfectly logical reasons for staying away from her paled in the face of his desire to hold her, to kiss her. Even as he reviled himself for his weakness, he found himself making the trip to her room, where her welcoming arms and soft lips awaited him. Snape's old obsession with Lily had always made Sirius uncomfortable with the thought of him teaching her daughter, similar to her in so many ways. The growing closeness between himself and Evie only served to increase his discomfort, and he was determined to warn Snape of the consequences of hurting her or of replacing mother with daughter before he let him anywhere near her.

The front door opened and Sirius pulled himself up straight. Snape strode inside, his robes whispering around his ankles. It was a moment before he noticed Sirius, but when he did he easily deduced his reason for being there by his expression. "Come to greet me, Black?" He asked, smirking.

"Not quite, _Snivellus._" Sirius snarled, emphasising the old name and suppressing a smirk when he saw a brief flicker of anger in the other man's eyes. "You're in my house, so there are few rules you need to know."

Now it was Snape's turn to smirk. "I hardly think you're in any position to impose rules." He said loftily. "I am here on Dumbledore's orders, in case you have forgotten."

"That may be, but if you hurt Evie at all, nothing Dumbledore can say will protect you."

"Why ever would I wish to hurt her?"

"Alright, you might not hurt her. But you might forget who she is."

A faint flush crept up Snape's cheeks. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Then let me remind you," he said quietly. "She is Evie, not Lily, and if you start stalking her like you did Lily then-"

"How dare you," Snape hissed, his flush now replaced with pale fury. "You presume to-"

He was interrupted by the kitchen door swinging open. Evie emerged, followed shortly by Remus, who watched Snape and Sirius anxiously. "I thought I heard talking." Evie said, smiling. She was oblivious to both Remus's worry and the tension in the air, and she looked at Snape with only polite curiosity.

"This is Professor Snape," Remus said quickly. "He will be teaching you."

Her smile widened as she regarded the man who was to help her. "Thank you so much for doing this, Professor."

Snape gave a brief jerk of his head in response. "We should begin now. I need to return to Hogwarts before evening."

"Of course, the sooner the better." Evie said. "Will the kitchen be alright?"

"It will be adequate." Snape replied stiffly, brushing past Sirius to follow Evie into their chosen classroom. Sirius strode after them, intending to keep his eye on Snape for the duration of his time spent at Grimmauld Place. But as he reached the threshold of the kitchen, Snape turned around and placed his hand on the door. "We require privacy." He hissed, before shutting the door in Sirius's face.

* * *

AN: I'm so sorry for the enormous delay between the last chapter and this. Evie's first lesson with Snape will be taking place in the next chapter. 


	28. Professor Snape

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and everyone who stuck with this despite the unforgivably long time it took me to update. I hope you like this chapter. It deals with Evie's first lesson with Snape, and touches upon a couple of issues in Sirius and Evie's relationship. Feedback much appreciated!

* * *

"What subject do you teach at Hogwarts, Professor?" Evie blurted. She had been alone with Professor Snape for over a minute, and the man hadn't uttered a single word in that time. The intense silence had been too much to bear, and she had simply had to break it before it drove her mad. All she knew about him was that he taught at the school Dumbledore ran, and so that was the first thing her mind seized on. 

Professor Snape started slightly, surprised by the sudden, unexpected question. The small stone dish he had been turning over in his long fingers almost slipped to the ground, but he redoubled his grasp on it and prevented mishap. "Potions," he murmured after a short pause.

"Do you like it?"

"Is that relevant?" He asked sharply. Evie couldn't tell whether his brow creased in annoyance or confusion at her line of questioning.

She shrugged. "I was just curious. I was never taught much about potions, although I can create certain remedies if I need to."

"Remedies and antidotes are amongst the most useful knowledge a wizard can possess – but that has no bearing on what I am here to teach you today. Here, if you would be so kind." He motioned for her to rise and stand beside him. Once she had complied, he set the stone dish on the table in front of them. "Do you know what a pensieve is, Evie?"

Biting gently on her bottom lip, she thought back to when she had last heard that word. "I'm not entirely sure, but Remus told me that it helped Professor Dumbledore see my memories."

"That is the function of the pensieve, explained in the most basic terms." Here Evie wasn't sure whether to feel offended on her own behalf or Remus's. "The magic that allows the pensieve to work is extremely complex, but you don't need to know it. All you need to know is that it allows wizards to view memories in a way which many say provides greater understanding of past events. This pensieve," a wave of his arm indicated the stone bowl. "May not be as old or as grand as Dumbledore's, but it is infinitely more practical to transport and suitable for our purposes."

"So we'll be looking at memories?" Evie asked hesitantly.

"A brilliant deduction," Professor Snape said loftily, caught somewhere between irritation and amusement. "I need to witness firsthand the events that led to the first use of your power before I can begin to teach you how to control it."

Over the past few days, having started to eat and sleep properly again, Evie had begun to recover some colour in her cheeks. Now it drained away, leaving her looking every bit as ill as she had done the day she escaped her Death Eater tormentor. Seeing this, Professor Snape remarked, "You're not afraid of a mere memory, surely? It cannot harm you."

"I'm sure you possess unpleasant memories." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. It hadn't been her intention to say something personal or discourteous, but one of his untactful comments had come while she was reliving the experience of her torture, and the words had just spilled out. Seeing his lips compress and his eyes narrow dangerously, she wished she could take them back. The Professor might be cutting but he was here to help her, and at the very least she owed him her politeness. "Professor." She added weakly, a half hearted attempt to re-establish her respect for him. "I'm not scared of my memory, just of what my reaction to it might be."

The spark of anger in Professor Snape's eyes disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived, to be replaced by a look of far away contemplation. Evie waited patiently for him to speak, determined not to offend him as she had clearly done only seconds before. "I don't believe that your reaction will be as violent as it was the first time," he said at last. "But if it is, I will be able to defend myself adequately."

"But-"

"The Death Eater was neither prepared for your attack nor, in all likelihood, particularly magically skilled or intelligent. I assure you that you will not be killing me today, as much as it would please Black."

Evie frowned, suddenly irritated both by the man's overconfidence and what had seemed like a slur on Sirius. "Black? You mean Sirius? Why would he-" She quailed, falling silent as brief but violent anger bordering on loathing flickered over his face.

"There are many things you do not know about him," he said quietly. "But it is not my job to inform you of them. Now," He retrieved his wand from his pocket and raised it slowly. "Grant me access to your memory."

"How do I do that?"

"Surely you remember the process from when Professor Dumbledore extracted the memory." He said in a remarkably slow but irked voice, as if he was speaking to an idiot.

"Well I was unconscious at the time, so the finer points may have passed me by!" She snapped, her determination to treat the Professor with respect waning as he wore away at her patience with his constant sniping.

Professor Snape stared at her intently for long seconds, perhaps expecting her to try and correct her mistake as she had done earlier. But this time she remained silent; she wouldn't try to make amends for her brusqueness. She was still more than grateful for his help, but she _refused _to let him bully her with snide remarks and veiled insults of her friends. Crossing her arms, she stared right back at him, not allowing her eyes to move from his for a moment. After staring at her for so long that Evie was amazed his eyes didn't water, Professor Snape coughed and looked away, hastily covering his mouth with his hand. Evie blinked once, twice, trying to comprehend what she had just seen. She could have sworn that before his lips had disappeared behind his long fingers the corners had twitched into a smile. For the life of her she couldn't figure out what she had done to earn a grin from the dour Professor.

"Forgive my oversight," he said, and when he removed his hand his face had returned to its usual composed, unreadable state. "Simply concentrate on the memory, and don't try to fight me when I enter your mind."

Nodding her understanding, she allowed her eyes to slide shut and brought the memory in question to the fore of her mind. The tip of the Professor's wand alighted gently on her temple and, after a moment of hesitation, she felt the memory being drawn from her. It didn't feel at all like what she had imagined; it was like a thread being coaxed from her mind, leaving nothing but a cool tingle in its wake. She had the distinct impression that if the memory had been taken forcefully the process would be much more painful, and felt a rush of gratitude towards the Professor that he was taking pains not to discomfort her.

Taking a step back, the Professor hastily transferred the silver thread of memory from his wand to the pensieve, where it spread to cover the bottom of the dish. "Come now," he ordered, waving her towards the bowl. "Place your face against the surface of the memory."

Evie raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Will there be room for both of us?"

"There will be room enough to spare. Now, please, do as I told you."

Praying that she wasn't about to knock heads with Professor Snape, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and plunged her head under the surface of the glittering memory. A moment later a voice at her ear told her she could open her eyes. She complied, and staggered with the shock of what she saw. The cellar was just as she remembered it, from the dirty floor to the cold stone walls. When she saw herself, bound and chained with the Death Eater looming over her, she shut her eyes again and turned away.

"It isn't necessary for you to watch," the Professor murmured, as if worried that the two ghosts of Evie's memory would somehow hear him.

Evie took him at his word and kept her back to the scene, but although she could block the drama that unfolded from her sight, there was nothing she could do to prevent her own screams and the Death Eater's taunts reaching her ears. More than anything she wished that Professor Snape was someone else; Sirius, Remus or Harry. Someone who would wrap their arms around her rather than passively stand by and watch as she relived the experience of her torture alone.

As the memory wore on, it became less difficult for her to hold back the stream of tears that fought to be free. The intense distress that recalling such an awful day caused her gradually faded, and was replaced by an emotion she had only ever felt once before. Rage. Not anger, which she had felt many times in the past, but liquid fury that bubbled just beneath the surface of her skin, making the tiny hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stand up and crackle with tension. The same threats towards Sirius and Remus that had killed the Death Eater the first time now stirred the deadly power that resided in her body.

She tried to warn the Professor, but found that she was incapable of even opening her mouth, let alone forming words. Clenching her fists, she concentrated solely on attempting to cool the boiling rage that threatened to consume her. The effort this took was both immense and exhausting, and although the anger and the deadly power did begin to recede, she knew she wouldn't be able to control it for much longer. So intent on trying to rein herself in, Evie didn't hear the Death Eater's sentence end abruptly or the soft _thump _as his lifeless body hit the floor. She only became aware that they had left the pensieve when the Professor's hand on her shoulder softly shook her back to reality.

Realising where she was, she felt the anger desert her completely and let out a shaky sigh of relief. A quick glance at Professor Snape told her that he had also felt the effects of her power. Several strands of his hair were clumped together with sweat, and a flush had risen in his usually pale cheeks. A bright, shiny scar stood out on his jaw; it looked very much as if he had been scolded by a piece of white-hot metal. Drawing a handkerchief from his pocket, he mopped his damp brow. "It seems I overestimated my ability to control your power."

"Did I do that?" She asked, indicating the scar.

Confused, the Professor brought a hand to his face and, when he found the mark she referred to, smiled ruefully. "I assure you it could have been much worse. If you hadn't managed to control your power so well, my injuries would have been far graver."

"I controlled it?" Evie gasped.

Nodding, he replied, "Yes. I helped, but most of the work you did by yourself. With a few lessons you should be able to make that control more permanent."

Relief like she had never known washed over Evie. She could control her power! She wouldn't accidentally kill an innocent person in a fit of rage or misery. Suddenly, she felt herself fighting the urge to laugh with joy. Then she felt it. It was as if something was being pulled out of her; not from her head, as it had been with the memory, but from her chest. The feeling wasn't exactly painful but it certainly wasn't pleasant; it was as if something was tugging at her heart.

Uttering a short, sharp cry of shock, she felt her legs crumple beneath her. The Professor called her name in a strangled voice and dove after her, catching her limp form before she hit the floor. "Are you alright?" He asked, and Evie was shocked to see concern in the eyes of the man who had watched her torture without saying a word.

She started to answer, and then stopped abruptly. Something about Professor Snape's face was different, and it took her only a second to figure out what. The scar on his jaw, the scar that she had caused, was gone. She recalled the night Dumbledore had injured her and then ordered her to conjure a patronus, and then looking down to find that the wound had disappeared. It wasn't just herself she could heal; she could heal other people too.

Before she could tell the Professor about his disappearing scar and what had caused it, the door flew open and Sirius charged in. Later, she would concede that it couldn't have looked good. Sirius had heard her scream and then rushed into the kitchen to find her prone in Professor Snape's arms. What she couldn't concede was that his response was reasonable. Striding across the room, he tore Snape off Evie and threw a punch at him, his fist colliding solidly with his jaw.

"What the hell are you doing?" Evie shouted, struggling to her feet. Remus appeared and was at her side in an instant, letting her lean on him as she rose.

"He hurt you!" Sirius growled, producing his wand and thrusting it at Snape.

"He didn't hurt me, he was _helping_ me! I collapsed and he caught me!"

"But we heard you scream."

"Because I healed him, not because I was in pain."

"Healed me?" Snape demanded, pushing Sirius away from him with one powerful shove and digging in his pocket for his own wand.

"The scar's gone." Evie said weakly. "I was going to tell you before, but…" She waved her hand helplessly at Sirius.

Snape fingered the place where the scar had been, needing to feel for himself that it had disappeared. "Dumbledore needs to know about this," he said finally. "The lesson is over."

* * *

Evie paced her bedroom restlessly, glancing at the clock on the wall every few seconds. It was typical that, after having slept at her side for the last few nights, Sirius would choose this night to stay away. She didn't know whether he had come to her door, saw that the light was on and left or had remained in his room all night, anticipating the tongue lashing he would receive should he visit her. 

Deciding that if he wouldn't come to her then she would have to go to him, she left her room and headed to Sirius's. After searching it briefly and finding no sign of him, she hurried down the stairs, taking pains to avoid the creaky steps so as not to wake Remus, who had retired to bed an hour earlier. The door of the kitchen was slightly ajar, and through the gap she could see Sirius. He was seated at the table, a long forgotten cup of tea in front of him. He looked so morose that Evie couldn't bring herself to scold him and make him even more miserable.

"Why, Sirius?" She asked gently, leaning against the doorframe. "Why did you hit him?"

"I thought he'd hurt you." Sirius mumbled, apparently not surprised by her presence.

"That's what I don't understand." She straightened and moved over to him. "Why did you think that Professor Dumbledore sent someone who would want to hurt me?"

"There's more to _Professor _Snape than meets the eye." He spat the word, as if it disgusted him to say it.

Evie felt the corners of her lips twitch, and forced herself not to smile. "Funny. He said the same thing about you."

"He would. We're not exactly bosom friends."

Laying a hand on his shoulder, she said, "Really? I'd never have guessed."

Sirius sighed. "He was at school with me and your father, and we haven't liked each other ever since."

"I'd say that's putting it mildly. I know you don't like him, but he _is _trying to help me. Could you at least try not to hit him again? If he comes back. He might not after today."

Sirius rose from his seat, a grim look on his face. "He'll come back, believe me. Dumbledore will see to it. I'll try not to hit him – as long as he doesn't give me a reason to."

Evie grinned. "Good enough for now, I suppose." Taking his hand, she tugged him lightly. "Will you come to bed now?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe that isn't a good idea."

Frowning, Evie said, "Why not?"

"There are many reasons."

"Such as?"

"I'm so much older than you!" He muttered after a pause.

Evie shrugged. "Mr Rochester was much older than Jane Eyre, but that worked out fine. Well, apart from the mad wife in the attic." The look of confusion on his face that this statement caused was so comical that she couldn't help but laugh.

"Who the bloody hell are Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester?" He asked, feeling distinctly like he was the butt of a joke he didn't understand.

"It's a muggle book," she explained, dabbing her eyes gently with the corner of her sleeve. "I'll make you read it at some point."

"At least I'm not hiding a wife, mad or otherwise, in the attic. I can take you up there and show you, if you'd like."

"No!" Evie blurted "You can't go there!"

He slid his fingers beneath her chin and tilted her head upwards, worried eyes searching her face. "I was only joking, Evie."

"I know, but – just don't go to the attic. Promise me you won't." She demanded.

"But-"

"Promise!"

"Alright," he said, clearly concerned by her sudden, unexpected distress. "I promise. But will you least tell me why I-"

Evie launched herself against him, pressing her lips to his and cutting off his question before he could form it. She and Remus had worked too hard on Sirius's present for him to discover it before it was complete and ruin the surprise. She hoped that by the time the kiss ended, all thoughts of the attic would be pushed from his head. With that in mind, she tiptoed and moulded her body against his, deepening the kiss. In response he tightened his arms, which had come to rest around her waist. Evie's new position, flush against Sirius, brought her into contact with his very obvious arousal and, once she realised what she was pressed against, she promptly turned a furious shade of red. Although the kisses that they had shared frequently over the last week often left her skin tingling and her breath coming short, it had never occurred to her that Sirius might desire her because he had behaved impeccably, his hands never straying from their places at her waist or tangled in her hair. This was something she needed to think more about later, after she was sure he had forgotten the attic and the bad feelings about his treatment of Professor Snape had dissipated.

When she pulled away she buried her face in the crook of his neck, wanting to be sure her blush had faded.

"Are you alright?" He asked, concern once again creeping into his voice.

She pulled back and smiled at him. "Fine. Just please come to bed. I don't think I could sleep without you being there." Hesitantly, he nodded and allowed her to take his hand and pull him to her room.


	29. The Midnight Intruder Unmasked

November arrived quickly, bringing with it steely skies and biting wind. The residents of Grimmauld Place found themselves obliged to spend more and more time together, huddled around the open fire in the kitchen in an effort to keep warm. Evie took to wearing the thick woollen jumpers that Mae had knitted for her two winters previously, and on the coldest days Sirius would take dog form and curl up on a thick blanket, enjoying the benefits of a fur coat. Remus felt the cold more than either of them; for all that Evie tried to keep him well fed, the illness that came with his monthly transformations and the stress caused by his work for the Order meant that he was much thinner than was healthy. Although the house was frigid all day, the temperature fell even further at night and nothing they could do would make the gloomy rooms any warmer. During the coldest hours, before the first light crept into the sky, Evie and Sirius lay swathed in blankets, holding each other tightly, but there was no one to warm Remus.

Halloween was a cause for celebration. They were visited by Tonks and Arthur and Molly Weasley. The latter prepared such a large and delicious feast that no one could move from the table for more than an hour after the last crumb was devoured. Molly mothered them all terribly, and would have insisted on moving in to take care of them if it wasn't for her deep loathing of the house. Evie noted with approval how much more animated Remus seemed after the visit; Tonks in particular cheered him, making him laugh louder than he had done in weeks.

Despite the increasingly unpleasant weather and her worry for Remus, Evie remained cheerful. She received letters from Harry twice a week, and although he couldn't speak as freely as he would like, she gathered that he was getting along at least tolerably well. As time wore on, the tone of his missives became more positive.

Another reason for her happiness was that Sirius was gradually losing his reluctance to show his feelings for her. Now he came to her room every night, and scooped her up into his arms without hesitation. On one or two occasions he had even embraced her during the daytime, gathering her to him for a brief but heated kiss. But he only ever did this when he could be sure that Remus wasn't near. Neither of them had spoken to him about the change in their relationship because they still hadn't spoken about it to each other. Evie, wary of shattering Sirius's newfound ease, waited for him to raise the subject.

Professor Snape also contributed to her positive state of mind. Despite the unfortunate end of their first lesson, he returned the following Saturday, just as Sirius had assured her he would. She'd had a further two lessons with him, and her control of the power was increasing rapidly. Although the Professor remained as taciturn and aloof as ever, Evie felt a deep gratitude towards him. He might frequently resort to insults and snide comments, but she wouldn't forget that he was helping her, nor how quickly he had stooped to catch her when she had almost fainted.

The changing weather brought to Evie's mind that Christmas was fast approaching, and she had yet to purchase any presents. After much arguing with Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore, her protectors finally relented and agreed to let her visit Diagon Alley with a guide. That's how, on the first Saturday in November, Evie and Remus came to be bundling themselves up by the front door, while Sirius looked on sulkily. They had agreed that it would be best to make the shopping excursion on a Saturday, when Diagon Alley was at its busiest. As Professor Snape had been delayed and couldn't arrive for the weekly lesson until evening, this particular Saturday had been chosen.

"Right!" Remus said, clapping his gloved hands together. "I think we're ready." He looked to Evie, who quickly found that she couldn't make an intelligible response through the thick scarf wound round the lower portion of her face, and so nodded in reply.

"Could you give us a moment, Moony?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Of course," Remus replied absently, searching for something in his pockets. "I need to find my watch, in any case. We don't want to arrive late for Severus." He hurried down the hall presumably in search of his watch.

"If you're not careful today," Sirius said sternly, advancing on Evie, "you'll spend Christmas locked in the bathroom with the ghoul."

Evie fumbled with her scarf, trying to pull it free of her mouth so she could speak unhindered, but Sirius held it in place. "Please don't argue. Just be careful. You promise you will be?"

After receiving a solemn nod in response, he grinned widely and pulled the scarf away, pressing his lips against hers in a brief kiss. By the time Remus returned, he was carefully putting the scarf back in its rightful position.

* * *

Evie could scarce contain her excitement as she entered Diagon Alley for the very first time. A sea of people jostled all around her, clothed in every colour imaginable. She caught glimpses of purple, ruby, blue and emerald cloaks, and one in a shade of yellow that hurt the eyes. If she was dazzled by the startling variety of colours, it was nothing compared to her amazement of the shops. There were animals she had only ever seen in pictures, and sweets that made her tongue tingle in anticipation of the taste. Everything that she had ever dreamed of owning, along with several things she never would have been able to conjure with her imagination, was priced, displayed and ready to be bought. She hardly knew where to begin, although she did know that, as she was determined to purchase something for everyone who had been so welcoming over the summer, she would be visiting almost all of the shops. 

Remus had to drag her away from Flourish & Blotts, although before she left she picked out the densest book with text that would give the reader a headache for Hermione, as well a book about complex quidditch tactics for Ron. To her surprise, it was there that she also found apt presents for George and Fred: _Bondat's Bilious Beverages: 101 Non-Lethal Poisons to Induce Illness. (Perfect for avoiding tedious family functions!) _and _Devious Devices: Gizmos and Widgets to Aid Espionage. _Having been introduced to the twins' inventions as well as their hopes for the future, she felt that both books would be useful to them (although she also thought it would be wise to deliver these particular presents out of the sight of Molly Weasley).

Harry's present was by far the most difficult to find. Eventually, she stumbled upon something perfect in a ramshackle, dusty shop near the sinister Knockturn Alley. They were teaching aids, presumably for those who chose to school their children at home. Moving illustrations demonstrated the correct way to flourish a wand when casting certain spells, and when the tip of a wand was pressed against the name of the spell (printed at the bottom of the old, handsome parchment) it would speak perfectly the incantation. Evie bought the oak framed pieces of parchments that demonstrated defensive spells, hoping that they would be useful to Harry during his secret lessons.

Unsure of what to purchase for the youngest Weasley, she eventually settled on an inexpensive but beautiful necklace which would match the fiery shade of Ginny's hair, and for her mother she bought a box of exquisite chocolates. Mr Weasley's present was found before they even entered Diagon Alley; in a muggle toy shop she discovered a second hand _Operation _game, and was sure that he would be delighted by it.

Ignoring Remus's protests, she left him outside as she entered Twilfitt and Tatting's. Unlike the others, she had known straight away what to get for him. Thanks to prejudice and a very nasty piece of legislation, Remus found it almost impossible to get a job, and so could barely afford to buy even the essentials. As a result, most of his clothes were threadbare or holey. Evie bought him a handsome new cloak and a warm, wool lined coat.

For Sirius she purchased nothing. She and Remus were still working on his present secretly in the attic; with a little luck and a lot of hard work, it would be complete in time for Christmas.

By the time they left Diagon Alley, they had both been soaked to the skin by a sudden downpour and Evie's purse was considerably lighter, but she was still cheerful. She didn't mind spending money; she had inherited a small fortune from her parents, and then a surprising amount from Mae and Aaron. She would much rather spend it on friends than useless things for herself.

They arrived back at Grimmauld Place an hour before Professor Snape was due to arrive, but when they entered the kitchen, dripping wet and both carrying an armful of parcels, it was to find him seated at the table. Sirius leaned, arms crossed, against the sink, a sneer fixed on his lip as he stared at the hated intruder. When he glanced up and noticed that Evie and Remus had returned, he smiled and called out a greeting. He asked how their shopping trip went as he helped Evie struggle out of her soaked cloak. "You're drenched!" He cried.

"I know." She grimaced, plucking at the damp sleeve that clung to her skin. "Professor, would you mind if I changed before our lesson?"

"If you are quick." Snape said, sounding very much like he dreaded spending another minute in the company of Sirius or Remus.

Evie nodded and hurried out of the room, still clutching an armful of parcels. After relieving Remus of the few he carried, Sirius followed. When they reached her room, she only had time to set the presents on her bed before he spun her around and pulled her against him. Before she had the chance to point out that they were short of time, her lips were caught in a searing kiss. Protests dying in her throat, she wound her arms around his neck and allowed him to pull her closer.

"Your clothes will get wet." She said when the need for air finally became urgent.

"Don't care," he murmured, "you've been gone all day and for the last half an hour I've had Snape for company."

"You didn't hit him, did you?"

"No. As tempting as it was, I kept my word." He leaned in for another kiss, but Evie halted him with her fingers against his lips.

"I have to get changed." In response to the frown this caused, she said, "Look at it this way: the sooner I go downstairs, the sooner I have my lesson and the sooner Professor Snape can leave."

Sighing, he reluctantly let her go. After rummaging in the chest of drawers, she pulled on a set of warm, dry clothes as quickly as she could, not wanting to expose her bare skin in the cold room for an extended period of time. When she turned around, she discovered that Sirius had developed a sudden, intense interest in a book he normally would have considered unbearably boring. He kept his back firmly turned to her.

"Are you alright?" She asked, concerned.

"Fine," he mumbled.

"Why have you developed an interest in the relation of common plants to medieval muggle remedies?"

He glanced down at the book, noticing the title for the first time. "I haven't," he said, setting it down. "It's just you were…" Trailing off, he indicated the pile of sodden clothes on the floor.

"You've seen me unclothed before," she said, half amused by his uncharacteristic shyness and half embarrassed.

"No I haven't!" He cried.

"I seem to remember undressing an awful lot around a certain dog that I thought was your pet."

"Well," he said, suddenly very interested in the book again, "that was different. And besides, I always kept my eyes closed."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Evie found herself seated opposite Professor Snape at the kitchen table. Remus had taken up residence in the living room next to the open fire, in an attempt to chase away the chill that still lingered in his bones. After the smallest amount of glaring and silent warnings yet, Sirius had accompanied him. Evie had a suspicion that this wasn't because he was warming to the Professor in any way, but because he was glad to escape from her until the embarrassment caused by their last conversation had faded away. 

"So far your control of the power under emotional stress has been admirable," the Professor said. "Today we shall be working with… More intense emotions."

Evie frowned in confusion. More intense? To create the fury and distress that sparked the power, they had been using her most awful memories. She couldn't imagine how he intended to make the anger and upset worse. "Excuse me, Professor, but how will we create these emotions?"

"Until now we have been drawing on your memories. Today we shall be drawing on mine."

"Yours?" She asked quietly.

He nodded. "You will not see the memories themselves, but I will channel the emotions they cause into your mind. Hopefully, you will make them your own and it will be enough to activate the power."

After a brief moment of hesitation, she agreed. She detested the idea of anyone entering her mind, but, despite Sirius's all too obvious dislike of him, she had absolutely no reason to distrust the Professor. Dumbledore had entrusted him with the task of training her, and, so far, he had carried it out to the best of his abilities, allowing her a control of the power that she feared would never be possible. "What do I have to do?" She asked.

Rising from his chair and moving to sit closer to her, he said, "It will be similar to the experience of having a memory removed. Only instead of feeling like something is being pulled from you, you will feel as if something is being pushed in. All that is required of you is that you do not fight the sensation, or it may hurt you."

Nodding, Evie closed her eyes and allowed Professor Snape to press his wand against her temple once again. He was right, it did feel like a memory being taken, but his wand didn't pull away from her as it usually did, and there was a constant stream of information being pushed into her mind. Silently, she waited for the emotions to arrive. Rage, horror, desperation; but instead she only felt a mild anxiety about this new method of training.

To her horror, images began flashing before her eyes. They were not her memories, she had never seen the places or people in them before, but she saw them as clearly as if she had been there. Professor Snape had assured her that she wouldn't see his memories, but she was certain that she was seeing them now. In her mind's eye, she saw a young teenager walking down a hallway. As he approached, people turned their heads and whispered to each other, or else they sneered at him. Then she saw the same teenager, now a man, in a large wooden chair, bound by steel chains. Another memory showed the man, the Professor, on his knees amongst the scorched bricks of a devastated house, sobbing.

If it was anyone else, she would have told them straight away the mistake they had made. But she couldn't tell the Professor, she just _couldn't_. The man was so prideful that he would be mortified that she had seen his most humiliating and terrifying memories; he would probably leave Grimmauld Place and never return, no matter how Dumbledore might threaten or coax him.

Then came a memory that looked familiar. It took her a moment to realise that it looked familiar because it was herself she saw. In darkness lit only by the dim glow of a wand, she saw herself asleep in bed, tossing and turning as if in the grip of a nightmare. The memory Evie's eyes snapped open and she began to scream. She disappeared from sight as the man turned and fled.

Now it was a memory of her own that came to her. Back in the summer, during one of her first nights at Grimmauld Place, waking up from a harrowing nightmare to find a man standing over her bed. She had screamed, and he had disappeared. Her cry had attracted both Sirius and Remus, and after Sirius's search of the house yielded no results she had been forced to conclude that she had imagined the man, that he was a figment of her frightened mind. But now she knew that he wasn't something coughed up by her mind or a remnant of her nightmare. He was a real man; he was Professor Snape.


	30. Remus

An hour later, Evie restlessly paced the floor of her bedroom. The lock she had drawn on her door was rusty and stiff, thanks to her utter lack of concentration when she transfigured it. One swift kick – perhaps even a hefty nudge – and she knew the useless piece of metal would pop off, allowing the door to swing open. Not that she expected anyone to come charging in; she had made her excuses well, and it seemed unlikely that either Sirius or Remus would disturb her. Nevertheless, she found that she needed the lock. It was a barrier between her and the house's other inhabitants, as well as anyone with unsavoury intent.

She hadn't been able to say anything to the Professor. She had opened her mouth, accusations and furious words just waiting to drip from the tip of her tongue. In the end, though, all she had been able to say was that she was feeling ill, worn down by the day's exertions, and had asked (as politely as she could manage considering the situation) whether they could cut the lesson short. Although clearly irritated, the Professor had agreed, leaving Evie to fly from the kitchen. To Sirius and Remus she said that she would be wrapping their Christmas presents in her room, and they were allowed nowhere near lest they should spoil the surprise.

That bought her an hour, at the very most, in which to fret about this new problem and try to find a way out of it. After that Sirius would seek out her company, or Remus would come to order her to dinner. The problem was that she _needed _Professor Snape, there was no doubting that. It was true that she was rapidly gaining control over her power, but how could she be certain that that control wouldn't evaporate if her training ended? However, she knew with equal certainty that she could no longer be alone with him knowing that he had been the one watching her while she slept, who had terrified her.

This wasn't a decision she could make on her own; she would just think in roundabouts and never come to a conclusion. But who could she talk to? If Mae was here, she knew she could have asked her. If she had a problem with anyone other than the Professor she could speak to Sirius, but she knew that he would only hear that the Professor had frightened her before charging off, murder on his mind. Harry was completely out of the question, as this wasn't something she could trust to a letter. That left Remus; the only problem was getting him alone without alerting Sirius.

With an irritated groan, Evie yanked back the bolt on the door and strode out into the hallway. She took the precarious stairs two at a time, eventually forcing herself to slow the pace so that she didn't arrive looking too flustered. When she pulled open the kitchen door she found Remus and Sirius sitting in silence, the former with his nose in a book and the latter tilting back his chair, staring with a bored expression at the ceiling. At the sound of the door opening, Sirius glanced up and smiled to see Evie. "Finished wrapping the presents?" He asked.

"Not quite," she said, hoping that her smile didn't seem too forced. "Remus, could you help me wrap Sirius's present? I can't quite manage it on my own."

Remus set down his book and looked at her questioningly, quirking an eyebrow. He knew that she hadn't bought Sirius anything today because they were already working on his gift in the attic, and that could definitely not be wrapped. Luckily, he seemed to assume that she was talking about this and nodded, quickly rising and following her from the kitchen. Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes back to the ceiling, resuming his bored expression.

Evie led Remus away from the kitchen and ensconced them in the living room, making sure that the door was tightly shut behind them. "We're not going to the attic?" Remus asked quietly.

Evie shook her head. "No. I need to talk to you privately and I couldn't think of another way to get you alone."

Seating himself in an armchair, Remus regarded her intently with a grave expression. In as few words as she could, she described the day's lesson with Professor Snape and what she had seen in his memories when he tried to increase the intensity of her emotions by lending her his own. "I don't know what to do," she finished desperately, flinging herself down in a chair opposite Remus. "I can't stop my lessons with the Professor, but I can't be alone with him after what I saw."

Remus frowned. "Why didn't you say anything in front of Sirius?"

Evie looked at him incredulously. "You know as well as I do how he feels about the Professor. He didn't stop to ask questions and just punched him when he heard me scream. Can you imagine how he'd react if he found out about this?"

"When you put it that way…" he sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I need to talk to you privately anyway. But that can come later; right now we need to sort out this problem with Severus. I think I might have an explanation for his behaviour. Whether you'll find it satisfactory I don't know, but at least you'll have an answer."

She leaned forwards, resting her chin on her hand, eager to listen. "Please, tell me whatever you think might help."

"At Hogwarts, your mother and Professor Snape-"

"The Professor knew my mother?" Evie interrupted, stunned. Since her arrival at Grimmauld Place, the many members of the Order who visited who had known her parents in some way had been keen to inform her of that fact. They shared photographs, anecdotes, stories of the various quirks of her mother and father. But the Professor had never said a word about her mother although he'd had ample opportunity in the times they were alone together.

Remus nodded. "They were friends. Very close friends, as it happens, for a number of years. They had a falling out sometime in their fifth year and the friendship never recovered, but I don't think Severus ever stopped caring for her. You have to understand, Evie," he looked over at her, his face grave and sad, "that we all thought you perished on the same night James and Lily were murdered. None of us, excepting Dumbledore, knew that you had been sent away, and when you came back this summer it took us all a while to believe it. I think that after Severus heard that you still lived, he needed to see you for himself before he could believe it was true."

"Why couldn't he just come and speak to me like everyone else?"

"You said yourself that Sirius doesn't like him. He probably wanted to see you without getting into a fight or having accusations flung at him."

Evie frowned. Surely Sirius would have been able to put aside his dislike for an old friend of her mother's? "I'm sure Sirius would have laid off the Professor long enough for him to talk to me."

Remus laughed, a mirthless sound. "Some hatred runs too deep even for brief reprieve. Sirius was deeply unhappy about allowing Severus to teach you, but he accepted that it was necessary."

Snorting, she said, "Sirius doesn't _allow _me to do anything. I choose for myself."

He shrugged. "That may be, but he probably would have made it very difficult for Severus to see you when you first arrived. But about what you saw, I honestly don't believe that Severus meant to cause you any harm or distress. If it would make you feel better I could speak to him about it, or ask Dumbledore to."

"No!" She said quickly. "He's so prideful that if he realised what I saw he'd probably never come back."

"I can't deny the truth in that. He's definitely not one to take what he sees as criticism or sniping well. It's unlikely, but if he _does _do something to make you feel uncomfortable during your time together, tell me."

Evie nodded and thanked him, feeling herself relax for the first time since the Professor left. She wasn't entirely happy with Remus's explanation (she found it difficult accept that Sirius could hate someone so much that he would prevent them from seeing the daughter of a deceased friend) but at least now she had answers, and far less sinister ones than she had originally expected. Now she knew she could continue with her training with Professor Snape as her teacher, and if she discovered anything to suggest that he meant her harm then Remus would help her. She began to rise from her chair.

"Wait," Remus said, reaching out to hold her in place. "Now _I _need to talk to _you _about something."

She resumed her seat. "Is something the matter?"

"I'm not sure." He looked at her closely. "You and Sirius seem to be very close lately."

Squirming, she said, "I suppose so."

He continued to survey her carefully. Evie felt, although she attributed this mostly to paranoia, that he was waiting for some physical symptom of her lie to appear. "Has your…" he paused, searching for a word, "friendship grown any closer?"

She was certain that she was blushing a shade of red previously unknown to man. Resisting the urge to hide her burning cheeks, she asked, as casually as possible, "What makes you ask that?"

Remus's lips twitched. "Well, if you will keep dragging each other off to kiss in dark corners…"

"You saw?" She shrieked, all pretense that she had no clue what he was talking about rapidly vanishing.

"Evie, you have many talents, but stealth and subterfuge are not amongst them. As for Sirius, he's about as delicate and tactful as a dragon."

"I can't believe you saw," she muttered, burying her face in her hands.

"Why did neither of you speak to me about this?" He asked quietly, disappointment clear in his voice and expression. "I've been friends with Sirius for years, and I'd like to think that you trust me."

"I _do _trust you," she said quickly, suddenly no longer concerned with her embarrassment. "Please don't think otherwise. We aren't really sure what's happening with us at the moment, and we didn't know what you would think of us."

"You're not a child, Evie, and I'm not your father to tell you what to do. I won't pretend that a relationship between you and Sirius wouldn't be fraught with difficulties, but," he shrugged and spread his hands helplessly, "you two have both had more than your fair share of misery. If being together makes you happy-"

"It does," Evie said quickly, and then paused. "Well, most of the time. At other times he makes me want to rip my hair out."

Remus laughed. "You'll find that Sirius has that effect on most people."

Rising from her seat, she traversed the short distance between them and bent to hug him, trying to convey that she was grateful beyond words for what passed as his blessing. "Thank you," she murmured.

"No need to thank me. Just please stop sneaking around; your attempts at clandestine meetings are pitiful."


	31. Closer

**Summary: **Bringing Sirius and Evie closer before a tragedy intervenes. I'm so sorry for the delay! Blame the vast amount of reading and essays.

* * *

Evie stretched tentatively, needing to relieve the tension in her muscles but not wanting to disturb Sirius. He lay behind her stretched out along her back, arms wrapped tightly around her waist and lips resting against her hair. Although his deep breathing and the steady rise and fall of his chest normally lulled Evie to sleep, tonight she couldn't seem to settle. She had always loved Christmas, selecting the perfect tree and baking mountains of mince pies with Mae and Aaron, and as December wore on her excitement seemed to grow. It wouldn't be long before Harry (and perhaps even the Weasleys if she was lucky) returned to Grimmauld Place, and she would finally be able to give Sirius his present. She lay wide eyed in the darkness, mind ticking over the preparations for the festivities. 

"I can _hear _you thinking, you know," Sirius mumbled. Grinning, Evie turned to face him. He loosened his grip momentarily to accommodate her new position before winding his arms more firmly around her. Sleepily he nuzzled into her neck and pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. "What's got the cogs grinding so hard?" He asked, the words almost swallowed by an enormous yawn.

"Christmas," she said. "I can't wait to see Harry and maybe the others again. And I'm even more excited about seeing your face when I give you your present."

"What is it?"

"You'll have to wait and see," she said, pulling his head down for a kiss. As was common these days, it didn't take long for their kisses to go from tender to intense. What was new was Sirius's fingers sliding beneath the hem of her night shirt, gliding over the smooth flesh of her stomach. Evie gasped against his lips as heat flooded her, emanating from the placer where his fingertips touched her skin. He jerked back, and even in the dark Evie could see the conflicting emotions in his eyes: the same desire that was currently making her tingle, a trace of fear, and a question. In response she slowly leaned forwards and brushed her lips against his.

Sirius's hand shook as he unbuttoned her shirt, his breath coming quickly against her lips. When his hand found her bare flesh again, Evie couldn't suppress a tremble of mingled excitement and anxiety. Slowly, tentatively, he began his exploration. As his caresses became firmer, more assured, Evie moved her hands beneath his shirt, running her fingers over skin she had never felt before. Several moments later, it was with shock that she realised that they were both bare to the waist, and Sirius's lips were on her stomach.

"Sirius! Sirius Black! I have a message for you!"

They broke apart as the voice echoed through the house. "That's Phineas Nigellus," Sirius said, voice strained, in response to Evie's questioning look. "He has a portrait here and in Dumbledore's office. If he's calling me it means Dumbledore has a message for me." Propped up on his elbows, he hovered above her anxiously for a moment, regret clear in his face as he looked down at her. "I have to go," he said softly.

Evie nodded. "Of course." He gave her a final, lingering kiss before getting up and hurrying from the room, leaving Evie alone with her thoughts. She shivered; without Sirius's warm wait on top of her goose pimples began to break out all over her body. Pulling the blanket up, she glanced down and saw how little she wore, and a blush heated her cheeks. The image of Sirius's regretful face floated through her mind. Was it because he regretted having to stop, or because he thought he has pushed her too far? Or had it been something else entirely? What if she had been a disappointment? Did she fall short of the women he had known intimately in the past? She sat with the blanket pressed to her chest, unsure whether to get dressed or remain as she was.

Little more than a minute has passed when Sirius stumbled back into the room, leaving the door open so that light from the hallway spilled inside. "Harry and the others are coming," he said as he pulled on his discarded shirt.

"_Now?_" Evie asked, forgetting the worries that had been gnawing at her a moment ago as she leapt from the bed.

"Now. Phineas didn't say why, but it can't be good if they're coming in the middle of the-" Sirius broke off as he finished buttoning his shirt and turned to face Evie. Remembering her worries, remembering that she still hadn't dressed, she turned to locate her shirt. After a moment's pause Sirius said hesitantly, "If I upset or scared you, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rush you."

She shook her head. "You didn't. I'm fine."

Soft footsteps behind her and then hands on her shoulders, forcing her to turn around. She did so reluctantly, eyes fixed toe the ground. "You don't look fine," Sirius said quietly.

"It's just…" She trailed off, squirming in embarrassment. Now she knew how Sirius must have felt on those occasions when she had dragged his fears and anxieties out of him. "I thought that maybe I wasn't good enough." It came out in a rush, and she said it to his chest rather than his face.

"'Not good enough'? What do you – Oh," he said, suddenly seeming to understand. Sliding his fingers beneath her chin, he tilted her head upwards and caught her lips in a hungry kiss. He was by turns demanding and tender, and Evie felt as if the repressed emotion and desire she had felt over the past couple of months was being expressed in this one kiss. She wasn't sure whether it lasted for a few seconds or a few hours, but when their lips finally parted she sagged against him.

"Hmmm?" She said, vaguely aware that he had spoken.

Sirius chuckled. "I said that I'll carry on proving that I adore you later. They'll be here soon if they're not already."

Sighing, Evie reluctantly disentangled herself from Sirius and allowed him to leave after he had placed a final, far more chaste, kiss on her forehead. She changed into a fresh of set clothes after deciding that whatever had brought Harry back to Grimmauld Place so early probably meant that she wouldn't return to bed until sunlight, and headed downstairs. As soon as she neared the kitchen she knew that something was wrong. She could hear Fred and George, who could normally take anything in their stride, shouting, and Sirius's voice was raised to match theirs.

In the kitchen she found the Weasley children and Harry, all wearing serious or frightened expressions. The twins, now silent, looked mutinous, and they glared at Sirius as they took seats at the table. "What's going on?" Evie asked quietly.

"It's dad," George said. "He's hurt."

"Hurt? How?" Evie cried. She had taken an instant liking to Arthur Weasley over the summer. He had welcomed her without question, always willing to invite her in on the joke or discussion. Once she had learned that he had practically adopted Harry as his own son, her respect for him had increased enormously. The thought of the kind, jovial man in pain or danger caused a stab of hot pain in the pit of her stomach.

"Ask Harry," murmured Fred.

With what looked like great reluctance, Harry launched into the story of his vision of Mr. Weasley's attack by a giant snake. As the story wore on his face became increasingly miserable, and by the end he looked as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. When the others had ceased to listen and had moved away to separate areas of the kitchen, lost in their private worry, Evie took a seat next to Harry. Reaching under the table, she took his hand. "Are you alright?" She whispered, then immediately scolded herself for her stupidity. "Obviously you're not alright. But you seem really miserable."

He shrugged awkwardly, avoiding her gaze. "I'm just worried about Mr. Weasley." Evie frowned; she knew there was more to it than that, but clearly Harry wasn't ready to admit it yet. Feeling fairly useless, she rose and hurried over to the stove to make a pot of tea. The following hours passed in almost complete silence. No one ate or drank anything, and everyone glared at Sirius when he weakly suggested that they go to bed. They couldn't seem to meet each others eyes; perhaps they were worried that if they looked directly at one another, they would share all of their fears for Arthur.

Eventually, as the grey morning light began to trickle through the windows, the kitchen door opened and Mrs. Weasley entered. The Weasley children were on their feet in an instant, staring at her in wordless expectance. "He's going to be alright," she said, giving them a small, tired smile. "We can all go and see him later. Bill's sitting with him now; he's going to take the morning off work." As one, the room seemed to sag with relief. Sirius announced a celebratory breakfast as the Weasley children went to hug their mother.

During the round of hugging and burst of conversation that followed, Evie noticed Harry murmur something to Sirius before the two of them slipped out of the room. Perhaps he would confide in his godfather the exact cause of his worry.

* * *

"We can't tell Harry." 

Evie and Sirius had settled in a large armchair in the sitting room, munching on the bacon left over from breakfast in sandwiches. The others, including Harry, had gone to visit Mr. Weasley in hospital, but Sirius still couldn't leave the house and Evie, not wanting to intrude on the family, had opted to stay behind. Instead of going to bed as they had told Mrs. Weasley they were going to, they had decided to make use of the time they had alone. Evie, who was stifling yawns with increasing frequency, was beginning to regret this decision, but she knew that they had to talk while they had the chance.

Sirius nodded his agreement. "He won't appreciate being kept in the dark, but it's for the best. For the time being, at least."

Guilt twisted Evie's stomach. She hated lying to Harry, but she couldn't see a way around it. With the attack on Mr. Weasley and the awful woman at Hogwarts who the Weasleys had spent the morning complaining about at length, she didn't want to burden him with any more anxiety. She and Sirius were the only family he had left, or at least the only family that loved him. How would he react if he discovered that they shared more than a close friendship? "He'll hate us when he finds out," she said miserably. "But I won't make him unhappier than he already is. Did he tell you what's bothering him?"

Sirius sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. "It's the connection between his and Voldemort's minds. A connection with such an evil wizard would be terrifying in itself, but I think seeing Arthur almost die made it much more real for him." Evie sensed that there was something more that Sirius wasn't telling her, but she didn't push him. If Harry had confided in him, she didn't want to force him to tell her Harry's secret. Harry would tell her when he was ready – if he ever was.

After a few moments of silence during which both of them blinked sleepily, fighting the tiredness that weighed their eyelids down, Evie said, "We're going to have to go back to separate beds for a while." She felt his thighs tense beneath her, and his breathing seemed to stop for a few seconds.

"I _knew _I'd upset you," he said quietly, sadly. "I'm so sorry. I got carried away and I pushed you too far, it'll never-"

"Don't say that," she hushed him. "The only way you'll upset me is if you say it'll never happen again." Saying this, she felt her cheeks threaten to darken again, but it was worth it for the brilliant smile she received. Sirius had only just accepted the change in their relationship; she didn't want a misunderstanding to ruin it. "I meant that we'll have to sleep separately for as long as Harry is here. If we're not going to tell him, he can't see you leaving my room first thing in the morning."

Reluctantly, Sirius agreed and got to his feet, pulling Evie up alongside him. They had said all they needed to say for the time being, and with a little luck they would be able to get a few hours of sleep before the others returned and told them how Mr. Weasley was faring.


	32. The Dangers of Eavesdropping

**Summary: **Evie worries for Harry, ends up in an awkward conversation and finds it difficult to stay away from Sirius, while Fred and George do some eavesdropping.

* * *

That night found Evie knocking on the door of the bedroom Harry and Ron shared. In her free hand she held a tray laden with chicken and mushroom pie and a beaker of ice cold pumpkin juice for Harry, who had failed to appear for dinner. When he had disappeared into his bedroom after returning from hospital she hadn't been worried. Everyone had been exhausted after a sleepless night, and it was only natural that he should want to rest for a couple of hours while he could. But he hadn't emerged for dinner and, despite the fact that Mr. Weasley was set to make a full recovery, a rather dour atmosphere seemed to oppress the house.

After a few minutes of knocking and receiving no reply she decided to leave and try again later. For all she knew, Harry was in a deep sleep and all she was doing was disturbing him. "Harry," she called softly, "I'm leaving your dinner by the door, in case you decide you want it." Setting the tray gently to the side of the door, she turned and discovered that she was no longer alone. Fred and George had approached so quietly that she hadn't heard them, and their sudden appearance startled her. About to reproach them lightly for giving her a scare, something in their serious expressions halted her. "What's wrong?" She asked, frowning.

"Could you come with us for a minute?" George asked.

"There's something we need to tell you," Fred added.

"You two look unusually serious," Evie said quietly. "What's this about?"

"It's about why Harry won't come out of his room," said Fred, dropping his voice to a whisper.

"I _knew _that there was something wrong," she groaned. "He's not just tired, is he?"

The twins shook their heads in unison. Sighing, Evie nodded her consent and followed them as they turned and walked down the corridor. They led her to the sitting room on the first floor, normally shunned for its collection of dark and possibly dangerous objects. Presumably they had chosen it for that precise reason, for the privacy it offered. Fred shut the door firmly behind them as Evie dropped into an armchair and George perched himself on the arm of a sofa.

"Something bad happened at the hospital," George said, his voice still low even though there was no one nearby to overhear him.

"Your dad?" Evie started up from her seat, wide eyed. "I thought he-"

"Not dad," George interrupted, shaking his head. "Harry."

"We may have listened in on a conversation we were meant to stay out of," Fred said. "They sent us lot out of the room so we decided to use the Extendable Ears. Dad and the rest were talking about Harry's vision, and Mad Eye said…" He trailed off, apparently unable to finish.

"Mad Eye said that You-Know-Who might be possessing Harry," George finished, looking slightly sick. Seeing Evie's eyes widen in shock he hurried to add, "Our sister – she was possessed by him a few years ago, and she reckons that it's not happening to Harry. But the problem is he won't talk to her about it. He won't talk to any of us."

Evie sat back into the cushions, feeling as if someone had punched all the air out of her lungs. "He ignored me when he came back from the hospital," she murmured. "I thought he just wanted to get to bed quickly." Burying her face in her hands, she attempted to imagine how her brother must be feeling. After she had gained her power, after she realised the damage she could cause with it, she had felt tainted, a danger to the people around her. It was only thanks to Professor Snape and his teaching her how to control the power that the feeling had diminished. How must Harry feel, convinced that the most dangerous, evil wizard in living memory could flit into his mind and take control of him at will?

"He's ignored us all," Fred said grimly. "Do you think you could talk to him, get him to come out of his room?"

She shook her head. "I knocked on his door for ten minutes and didn't get a response. I don't think he'll talk to me, but perhaps…" She paused for a moment, thinking. "Perhaps he'll talk to Sirius. He seems to listen to him when he won't listen to anyone else."

"That's settled then," said George bracingly, getting to his feet. "Me and Fred will go and talk to Sirius, see if he thinks there's anything he can do."

"I'll go," Evie said quickly, on her feet and at the door before the twins had even seen her move. "I need to talk to him about something anyway." Before either of the boys had chance to argue or protest, she was gone.

* * *

"Seemed awfully keen to talk to Sirius, didn't she?" George said, staring at the place where Evie had stood moments before. "Do you reckon she thinks Sirius knows more than we do, and she's gone to try and get it out of him?"

"Sirius and the others definitely know more than they tell us," said Fred thoughtfully. "But do you think he'll tell her?"

"Definitely. Have you seen how he treats her? He'd tell her even if Dumbledore had forbidden him too." In response to Fred's sceptical look George added, "She's the only one he has, isn't she? She's his only company in this place. He can't afford to upset her and have her ignoring him again; he'd go mad with no one to talk to."

"So it's another job for the Extendable Ears?"

"Definitely," George said, pulling a flesh coloured piece of string from his pocket and preparing to follow Evie.

* * *

Sirius was alone when Evie entered the kitchen, picking at the apple crumble Mrs. Weasley had made for dinner. Apparently he wasn't supposed to be devouring the rest of the dessert, because he quickly threw a tea towel over it and looked at the door with his best expression of innocence. Seeing that it was Evie, his face relaxed into a genuine smile and he patted the chair next to him in invitation. "Are you allowed to eat Mrs. Weasley's hard work?" She asked.

"Yes," he said defensively. "I'm just not supposed to eat quite so much of it."

Settling herself into the chair, Evie remembered the reason she had sought Sirius out and her smile faded. "I'm worried about Harry," she said seriously.

He laid a consoling hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine," he soothed. "It was a shock for him to see Arthur attacked, but he'll-"

"He heard Mad Eye saying that Voldemort is possessing him."

She felt Sirius's hand tense, and he sighed. "Voldemort isn't possessing him. Not in the way that Harry might think. He isn't controlling his actions or forcing him to do his bidding, but their minds are linked. Harry can see into Voldemort's mind, and if nothing is done to close the connection soon Voldemort will learn that he can see into Harry's mind." A slight pause and then he asked quietly,

"Of course not," Evie said. "It doesn't matter how I feel at all, I'm worried about Harry. He doesn't know that Voldemort isn't controlling him; he thinks he's a danger. He must feel how Remus does at the full moon; how I felt when I realised I'd killed that Death Eater." The mention of the Death Eater who had tortured her caused Sirius to tense for a second time. Evie knew that witnessing her captivity through her memory had hurt Sirius, but she needed him to understand. "Harry respects and loves you. He's not talking to anyone else, but he'll listen to you. Will you speak to him?"

"If you think it'll help I will. If I'd known what he'd heard…" He trailed off, sighing. "Ron's just gone to bed so I can't speak to him now, but I will tomorrow."

Evie smiled, relaxing for the first time since she had spoken to Fred and George. However, it wasn't to last. A different kind of tension soon flooded her. This was the first time she and Sirius had been alone since their conversation while everyone was at the hospital. They had coped well with not being able to touch each other, with pretending they were nothing more than friends, until dinnertime. With the new houseguests the table had been full, and Evie and Sirius had been crammed together. Once when their legs had brushed beneath the table, Evie had jumped back so violently that she had almost knocked Ginny off her chair.

"When you say that Ron went to bed," Evie said slowly, "did everyone go or was it just him?"

"Everyone went."

"So there's not much chance of anyone walking into the kitchen?"

Sirius looked at her from the corners of his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips. "I shouldn't think so, no."

"Interesting, that."

"Very interesting."

They both moved at the same time. In moments they had risen to their feet and crossed the small distance that separated them. Sirius swooped down and caught Evie's lips in a fierce kiss, and the strength of his embrace almost lifted her off her feet. She ran her hands over his shoulders, back and hair, reclaiming the flesh that she hadn't been able to touch for hours. Dizzily, she thought that if this was the effect of being parted for half a day then they should never be separated for a week.

Eventually they parted, Evie's head coming to rest on Sirius's shoulder while he tangled his fingers in her hair. "I've missed kissing you," he murmured.

"You only did it twelve hours ago," Evie said, grinning. Her smile fell rapidly when she remembered that she would be going to bed alone. "I'll miss you tonight," she said quietly. "The bed will be far too big without you."

Sirius groaned. "Don't remind me." A slight pause, in which he stepped away so that he could see her face clearly, and then he said hesitantly, "I know I've already asked you, but I have to be sure. Did I push you too far last night?"

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes Evie said, "I've already told you, you didn't push me too far. You didn't frighten or upset me, and I don't regret what happened."

"Okay," he replied. "What about what _would _have happened if we hadn't been interrupted? Would you have regretted that?"

A blush heated Evie's cheeks. Her first instinct was to look away to the floor, to Mrs. Weasley's crumble, anywhere but at the man standing in front of her. But she knew that if she was going to convince Sirius that she was being honest, that he wasn't pushing her further than she was ready to go, she couldn't afford to be squeamish or embarassed. Taking a calming breath she said, "I won't pretend that I'm not nervous about that, because I am. I've never..." The urge to look away was becoming overpowering, and her cheeks were so hot she felt like her face was on fire. "I've never done _that_," she finished with what felt like an enormous effort. "But if it had happened I wouldn't have regretted it."

"That's...Good to know," Sirius said in a strangled voice. Evie realised for the first time that he too was slightly redder than normal, and couldn't suppress a grin. Who'd have thought that she could make a fugitive blush? "But if I ever do push you too far-"

"Don't worry, I'll let you know." Evie glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was far past midnight. "I should be going to bed," she said regretfully. Tiptoeing, she gave Sirius a final kiss before bidding him a goodnight and leaving the kitchen. She didn't see the two figures crouched in the dark just outside the door.

* * *

**Next chapter: **Expect a confrontation. 


	33. Fight

**Summary: **Sirius and Fred face off and Evie lays down the law.

* * *

Sirius fell back into his chair, wondering what to do next. Sleeping alone wasn't an appealing idea; the nightmares of Azkaban had stayed at bay while he slept next to Evie, but he was certain that they would return if she wasn't there. He was sure he could find something that needed cleaning or fixing around the house, but he couldn't exactly stay awake until the holidays ended and everyone went back to Hogwarts. Shaking his head, he told himself not to be ridiculous. He had slept without Evie before, and he was sure he could manage a couple of weeks without her again.

Just as he had made up his mind to attempt to snatch a couple of hours of (hopefully dreamless) sleep, the kitchen door opened, admitting Fred and George. The expression on George's face was sombre, like it had been during the previous night when waiting for news of his father, but the look Fred wore was closer to fury. They approached the table, George's arms crossed over his chest and Fred's hands clenched at his sides, staring at Sirius.

"Is something wrong?" Sirius asked.

"You could say that," Fred said through gritted teeth.

"We just overheard something quite disturbing," said George.

"'_Quite _disturbing'?" Fred spat. "I'd say it's _extremely _bloody disturbing. You-"

George shook his head, casting his brother a warning look. Reluctantly Fred fell silent, settling for glaring at Sirius. "We like Evie," George said quietly. "We spent a lot of time with her over the summer and got to know her pretty well. The thing is, we feel a certain sense of responsibility to her. She doesn't really have anyone now that those people who looked after her are dead. She doesn't have any parents to protect her, and at the moment Harry has too many troubles of his own to notice that anything's wrong."

"And her godfather," Fred interrupted, "who's _supposed _to protect and care for her is more worried about getting her into bed."

Sirius froze, his breath catching in his throat. How could they have been so careless? The twins' habit of eavesdropping every time they thought they might hear something useful was well known, but he had still thrown caution to the wind. He hadn't even thought of casting an Imperturbable charm on the door before beginning his very private conversation with Evie; he had been in too much of a hurry to pull her into his arms to think. "You two have been using the Extendable Ears again, haven't you?" He asked quietly.

"A good job we did," Fred hissed, "or we might never have found out about you taking advantage of her."

"Fred," George said warningly. "Let's hear what Sirius has to say for himself first."

"What he has to say for himself? What can he possibly say that will make this alright?" Fred demanded. "He's toying with a vulnerable girl half his age!" He rounded on Sirius, eyes glinting. "Is it because you're bored? Is she something to pass the time while you're stuck here?"

"I don't have to justify myself to you!" Sirius said, jumping from his chair and striding towards Fred. "You think you know her? I wouldn't – I _couldn't_ - force her to do anything against her will. You don't know her half as well as I do."

"And you don't know her half as well as you'd like," Fred retorted. "Still haven't quite managed to get into her knickers yet, have you?"

"Fred!" George roared. "Give the man a chance to speak. And put those away!" Both Sirius and Fred had drawn their wands. Angry red sparks flew out of the tip of Sirius's while Fred's seem to tremble violently of its own accord. At any other time Sirius would have felt a grudging admiration for the younger man. Despite the fact that he was facing a larger, more experienced, far more dangerous opponent he didn't flinch. As it stood, his mind was too focussed on Fred's awful accusations to feel anything but anger.

At George's behest, they lowered their wands but didn't pocket them. "Please try to understand our concern Sirius," George said, making an effort to lower his voice. "Evie is our friend. Wouldn't you be worried if the situation was reversed?"

This made Sirius pause, and his eyes flicked towards the calmer brother. There was no trace of the anger that was evident in Fred's face, just earnest concern. And he was right; he would be worried if he thought someone was taking advantage of Evie. At the very least he owed them an explanation, a guarantee that he wasn't just playing with her for his own amusement. "I understand why you're upset," he sighed, "and I'm glad that Evie has people who care about her, but I'm not messing her around. I tried to stop this from happening, but she told me it was what she wanted and I can't help loving her."

"You're deluded," Fred muttered. "She's _half your age _and almost completely alone in the world. She's got no parents and most of the time her friends are half a country away. She doesn't know what she wants." He paused for a moment and then continued, "I've heard what you were like at Hogwarts, always losing interest as soon as you got a girl into bed. You'll do the same to her. You'll keep using her until you get out of this place, and then you won't want anything to do with her."

"Perhaps you're just jealous because I've got what you wanted all summer and couldn't have," Sirius said furiously. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Later, when he had calmed down, he would regret that small piece of cruelty. Fred stared at him in stunned silence for a few moments, his mouth moving but no words emerging. They both moved at the same time, raising their wand and pointing it at the other's face. The force of Fred's spell broke Sirius's nose with an audible _crack_, while Fred's face erupted into angry sores.

"ENOUGH!"

This time it wasn't George who commanded them to calm down, but someone else. A loud bang, and then Fred, George and Sirius were all thrown in different directions. They all groaned as they hit the solid stone floor, and looked around for the source of their pain. In the doorway stood Remus, his eyes closed and a pained expression on his face. In front of him was Evie, eyes smouldering with fury. It had been her command that ended the fight, her spell that had flung the three men through the air.

She walked slowly into the kitchen, looking at each figure on the floor in turn. "I have never witnessed such despicable behaviour," she said, her voice quiet but trembling with anger. She moved to the place where Fred lay. "Am I a child that needs to be looked after?" She asked him. "Am I incapable of making my own decisions, of knowing what I want?"

"No, I didn't mean that. I just-"

She held up a hand, silencing him. "If you have a problem with the way I choose to live my life then you talk to _me_."

"I thought-"

"I know what you thought. Sirius has never made me do anything that I didn't want." Her expression softened and she added, "I do appreciate your concern for me, I really do. It means a lot that you care about me so much, but this," she waved a hand around the room, indicating the fight, "isn't the way to go about it."

Next she rounded on Sirius, who had just risen to his feet. "As for _you_," she said, prodding him in the chest with her wand, "I would have expected better."

"But he said that I was only interested in you for sex!" Sirius said furiously.

"I know what he said, but you're supposed to be the mature adult. He's half your age and still at school. You shouldn't have cursed him, no matter what the provocation. Would you have cursed Harry if he had reacted similarly, or Ginny?"

He lowered his eyes to the floor, apparently unable to meet her gaze. Evie moved closer to him and gently took his chin between her fingers, turning his head so that he had to look at her. "And before you even think about it," she added quietly in a voice that was meant solely for his ears, "no, you're not forcing me to do anything I don't want to, and yes, I know what I want. I want you."

Finally she released Sirius and turned to George, who took a small step back and looked at her warily. Her face broke into a smile and she said, "Thank you for looking out for me, and for handling it in a more sensible way than these two. I still would have preferred that you talked to me first, but at least you didn't resort to fighting."

Sighing, Evie turned towards the two injured men and beckoned them towards her. She placed a hand on each of them and closed her eyes. Long moments passed and nothing happened, but eventually Sirius's nose straightened with a small _crack _and Fred's painful, lumpy skin smoothed to its normal texture. "How did you do that?" He asked, awe struck, as he ran a hand over his healed face.

"It's a long story," Evie muttered. "I _should _have let you keep your injuries as a lesson, but Harry and Mrs. Weasley don't need any more upset. But the next time you decide you want to brawl, please keep in mind that I can return your injuries to you just as quickly as I can take them away." As she spoke she wiped the palms of her hands, sweaty from the effort of healing, on the shorts she wore to bed. Now that Sirius's mind wasn't clouded by pain or anger, he saw that she also wore an oversized shirt and that her long hair was dishevelled. With a fresh stab of guilt, he realised that they must have woken her with their shouting.

"While we're on the subject of Harry, neither of you can tell him about what you've found out," she said to the twins, fixing them with a stern gaze.

"He's going to find out sooner or later," George pointed out.

"But not now, not like this," she said firmly. "He's got too much to think about already, what with believing he's possessed and that Umbridge woman to deal with at school. I don't want to give him anything else to worry about. Can you please agree not to tell Harry for the time being?"

Fred and George nodded, although the former did so with clear reluctance. Satisfied that they would keep their word and their silence, Evie bid the three a rather icy goodnight and turned to leave the room. At the door she paused to hug Remus. "It's wonderful to have you back safe and in one piece. I'm just sorry that you had such an awful welcome." At this she shot a nasty look at the three men behind her. "Thank you for fetching me when you heard them. At least _someone _thought I should be involved in this conversation," she said, giving Remus a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving for bed.

George waited until her footsteps had faded up the stairs before letting out a sigh of relief. "If ever McGonagall retires they should ask Evie to take over for her," he said, and his brother fervently nodded his agreement. Sirius ignored them, his eyes fixed on Remus. "You fetched her?" He demanded. "I can't believe you told on us!"

* * *

**Over the next few chapters **expect a visit from Professor Snape, Sirius and Evie getting closer, Evie learning she doesn't quite have full control of her power and Sirius finally getting his present. 


	34. Tension

**Summary: **An insight into Sirius's mind, Evie tries to help Harry.

* * *

_For a long time after he woke Sirius refused to open his eyes. His stomach fluttered with anxiety while a small, wordless part of his mind insisted that something wasn't right. Opening his eyes would mean admitting that he was awake, and he would have to leave the relative safety and comfort of his bed to investigate the source of his disquiet. _

_Warm breath tickling his neck alerted him to the fact that he was not alone. With what felt like a great effort, he opened his eyes and looked down. Evie lay at his side, one arm wrapped securely around his waist. Dark hair tumbled over her bare shoulders and obscured her face, but from the steady rise and fall of her chest he knew that she was asleep. This was somewhat comforting; although he had to rise and discover why this particular night felt so strange, she at least was wrapped in the security of sleep. _

_Gently, he lifted her arm away and placed it on the mattress. The icy air hit him as soon as he left their cocoon of blankets, making his flesh crawl and tingle as goose pimples broke out. Even after he had dressed himself, pulling on the thickest clothes he could find, the cold didn't quite leave. It seemed to have sunk through his skin, through his muscles, into his very bones. Trembling, he took a few small steps towards the door._

"_Sirius?" Evie's voice was thick with sleep. Either he had blundered around the room too noisily in his rush to find clothes, or his leaving the bed had invited the cold in. "Where are you going?" She asked. "Come back to bed."_

_Turning, he found that she had propped herself up on her elbows. "I just need to see something," he said. "I'll only be a couple of minutes and then I'll be back." _

"_Please don't leave," she whispered._

"_I have to," he said, wishing that he could stay. _

"_Please," she pleaded, sitting up and reaching out towards him. "Don't leave." As she sat up the blanket fell away, and Sirius noticed that her skin was far paler than normal. It was as if the frigid air was gradually seeping into her flesh. He resisted the urge to cover her up again. He knew that if he touched her he wouldn't be able to help climbing back into bed and folding her into his arms, stroking the warmth and life back into her limbs. _

"_I'll only be a few minutes," he promised. Turning away quickly so as not to see her emerald eyes grow bright with tears, he left the room. The corridor was even colder, and his breath hung in small white clouds in the air. Now walking quickly, fearing that if he paused for too long he wouldn't be able to start again, he headed towards the stairs. He had no clear idea of where he was going; he only knew that it was vital to keep moving._

_Something drew him inexorably to Remus's room. Perhaps he thought that Remus would be able to explain the drop in temperature or the strange atmosphere that permeated the house; perhaps he just wanted to reassure himself that his old friend was safe. Low whimpers reached his ears the moment he nudged open the door. Automatically he reached to his pocket to draw his wand, only to find that it wasn't there. Cursing, he stumbled further into the room, guided only by pale moonlight._

_On the bed, in a patch of moonlight that somehow seemed far brighter, lay a wolf. It writhed as if caught in the grip of a great agony, and was the source of the whimpers that Sirius had heard before even entering the room. For a moment he silently berated himself. How could he have forgotten that it was the full moon? More importantly, why was Remus here? Since Evie had decided to live at Grimmauld Place he had taken to leaving when it was his time to transform. Sirius had vehemently protested that he wasn't a danger as long as he took the Wolfsbane potion, but the incident when he had forgotten to take the potion at Hogwarts was still fresh in Remus's mind. That he was here during a full moon only added to Sirius's feeling of trepidation. _

_Knowing that there was little he could do to help his friend, Sirius regretfully left the room and shut the door behind him; Remus wouldn't want anyone to glance in and see him like that. As before, he had no real idea of where he should go. He allowed his feet to carry him down the corridor, trying to ignore the fact the temperature seemed to have fallen even further, and found himself in front of Regulus's old room. _

_The door bearing the pompous message had been removed. Solid steel bars, of the kind he had seen a lot of in Azkaban, had taken its place. The room behind was lost in utter darkness. Barely breathing, he pressed his ear against the gap between the bars. For a moment he could have sworn he had heard something. A spell of silence and then it came again, this time louder. Bare feet padding against wooden floorboards. The movement of the person imprisoned in the room seemed relentless; they paced continuously, their feet pounding against the floor increasingly quickly. _

_A face lunged out of the darkness, startling Sirius so that he sprang back and almost lost his balance. Harry wore an expression that was close to derangement. His clothes hung off his body in rags, and through the holes in the filthy garments Sirius glimpsed blood. "Dementors," Harry hissed. "There are Dementors here!"_

"_There can't be," Sirius whispered._

"_They're here! Where's your wand?" Harry demanded._

_Again Sirius reached to his pocket before remembering that he had left his wand next to his bed. "I need to fetch it. Don't move," he ordered Harry. "I'll be back in a minute to get you out." With that he turned and sprinted down the corridor, panic rising at the thought of encountering a Dementor without any means to defend himself. He slammed into his bedroom door, ignoring the pain this sent roaring through his shoulder, and skidded into the room. Thankfully, his wand was in easy reach on the bedside table. _

"_Evie," he said, picking it up and feeling relief spread through his body, "you need to get up and get your wand. There are Dementors in the house." No response. "Evie?" He called again, turning now to look at the bed for the first time. The covers were pulled up over Evie's head, hiding her from view. There was something unnatural about how still she lay, about how the sheets didn't move to the rhythm of her breathing. Sirius froze. He had only left her for a few minutes, how could something have happened to her? Perhaps she had just slipped into a deep sleep. Telling himself that nothing was wrong, Sirius forced himself to break free of his paralysis and walk forwards. When he yanked the covers back, he barely noticed that for a moment they resisted, seemingly glued to her skin. He barely noticed that the source of the resistance was the dried blood that had stuck the sheet to the Dark Mark carved into her chest. He only saw her eyes, glassy and unseeing, and began to scream. _

Sirius jolted awake, a scream choking him. His hands frantically searched the empty space next to him, and for a moment utter panic almost consumed him before he remembered that Evie was sleeping in her own bed tonight. Later on, he wouldn't remember dressing or leaving the room. He wouldn't remember the journey to Evie's room. His mind was clouded with the urgent need to see her, to make sure she was safe.

When he arrived at her room she was propped up against the headboard, a book open in her lap. She turned her face to him, eyes briefly flashing annoyance before she saw the frantic state he was in. She hardly had time to ask what was wrong before he flung himself onto the bed, pulling her into an embrace that almost crushed the air from her lungs.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, frowning as he looked at his sister. Evie nodded and smiled in reply, not trusting herself to open her mouth without yawning.

Another night had gone by with very little sleep. First Remus had arrived and informed her of the fight in the kitchen, and then Sirius had burst into her room looking like he had seen a ghost. After mumbling something about a nightmare and pulling her into a rib cracking hug, he had rested his head on her shoulder and promptly fallen asleep. Unfortunately, Evie had had to remain alert so that she could wake him at sunrise and urge him to return to his own room before anyone began to stir.

Despite his promise of the night before, Sirius hadn't spoken to Harry. He hadn't been given the chance. As soon as he woke, Remus had dragged him to a far flung corner of the house where, as far as Evie could tell, he'd had stern words with him about his treatment of Fred. By the time Sirius had been appropriately scolded, Hermione had arrived and managed to talk Harry out of his room.

Now everyone was engaged in the task of preparing Grimmauld Place for Christmas. The various Weasleys, as well as Hermione and Remus, were scattered around the house hanging decorations. Evie had decided to teach Harry how to bake (a task which had met with a little success and a lot of mess) and they were joined in the kitchen by Sirius and Fred. Fred, although true to his word that he wouldn't give away Evie's secret, seemed determined not to give Sirius a moment alone with her. He had been following him all day. If it hadn't been for the scolding he had received from Remus and many warning looks from Evie, Sirius probably would have lost his temper. Now they sat at the kitchen table, icing the cakes Mrs. Weasley had baked and glaring at each other sullenly.

"I was worried about you," Evie said quietly. Harry paused in the act of whisking eggs, and then continued as if he hadn't heard. "You could have talked to me, you know," she persisted. "I know how you felt."

"How could you possibly know?" Harry whispered fiercely, temper flaring. "It was like I had this evil thing inside of me that could take control and make me hurt people whenever it wanted."

"I killed someone," Evie said shortly. She averted her gaze so that she wouldn't have to see the mingled shock and horror on Harry's face. Speaking with her eyes locked on the kitchen counter, she continued, "It was the day I came to visit you in Hogsmeade. When my aunt-" She broke off, scrunching her eyes shut. A hand landed on her shoulder, squeezing gently. "When she died, she passed along a power she had to me."

"What kind of a power?" Harry asked, wide eyes riveted on her face.

"I still don't fully understand it," Evie murmured. "I can use it to heal if I'm happy, but if I'm sad or angry..." She suppressed a shudder. "I know Dumbledore told you that I was kidnapped by a Death Eater. I killed him. Without a wand or a weapon - without even meaning to. The power leapt out of me and killed him."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry asked. "Why didn't Dumbledore say anything?"

Evie shrugged, sighing. "It's not the kind of thing you can really write in a letter, especially with how things are at your school at the moment. As for Dumbledore, perhaps he thought that I should be the one to tell you." She blinked rapidly. As long as she didn't think about her aunt and uncle, she didn't cry. But when she talked about them, when she thought about the events of that day, the grief that she tried so hard to keep at a distance flooded back. She turned away, but not before Harry glimpsed the tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Harry said quickly. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's alright, it's not your fault," Evie said, wiping her eyes on the nearest tea towel. "But you see that I get it, I really do. I don't pretend to know what it's like to have Voldemort inside my head, but I do know what it's like to be terrified of hurting the people you love."

Harry's eyes flicked towards Fred and Sirius, still trying to out stare each other, before coming back to rest on Evie. "How..." He trailed off, apparently unable to find the right words. After a moment he moved closer to Evie and murmured, "How do you cope with it? How do you handle knowing that you might be a danger to your friends?"

"I found a way to control it. Dumbledore arranged for me to be taught how to keep the power in check. You probably know the man who teaches me, actually. He's a professor at your school."

"What's his name?" Harry asked, brow furrowing.

"Professor Snape."

* * *

**Next chapter: **Christmas Eve at Grimmauld Place! Harry has a warning for his sister, Evie and Sirius become closer, Fred struggles with his jealousy and Sirius finally - _finally _- gets his present. With tinsel and mince pies.

**Note: **I'd just like to say thank you to everyone for reading, and for the reviews. I really do appreciate your support!


	35. Christmas Eve

**Summary: **Rather a lot happens in this chapter. Evie, Hermione and Ginny bond, Sirius and Fred come to blows again, Sirius and Evie become closer, Harry warns Evie about Snape and Sirius finally gets his present. After all this time I hope it doesn't come as a disappointment.

* * *

"Shush!" Evie ordered half heartedly, stifling a giggle behind her hand. Hermione and Ginny were sprawled over her bed, surrounded by a variety of cakes and a half empty bottle of firewhiskey. It was nearing five o'clock in the morning and becoming increasingly difficult not to wake the rest of the house with their laughter. "I'm the oldest here," Evie said, voice slightly slurred from tiredness and the effects of alcohol. "I'm supposed to be responsible. I should be stopping this."

Ginny launched a pillow at her. "You need some fun! Stuck inside this house all the time, only grumpy men for company," she said, popping a chocolate into her mouth.

"They're not that bad," Evie protested.

"They're not exactly a barrel of laughs either," Ginny said firmly.

"I'm surprised Sirius hasn't tried to convince you to sneak into Diagon Alley or up to Hogwarts," Hermione said.

Evie shrugged. "He probably would if I was anyone else, but he can get quite protective of me. He punched Professor Snape because he thought he'd hurt me."

"He didn't!" a wide eyed Hermione gasped in horror as Ginny dissolved into a fresh fit of giggles.

Evie nodded. "He did. I was so embarrassed."

"Fred better watch out then," Ginny said, sharing a sly look with Hermione.

"What do you mean?" Evie asked, feeling her cheeks heat up. She had a very good idea what Ginny meant, but she hoped neither of the girls would want to talk about it. The prospect of having to explain exactly why she wasn't interested in Fred to his sister didn't thrill her. What was she supposed to say? She got along with Fred and as far as Ginny and Hermione knew she wasn't involved with anyone else.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed. He fancies the pants off you! He spent most of the summer talking our ears off, trying to find out more about you."

"If he asked, would you…?" Hermione said, raising her eyebrows.

Evie squirmed awkwardly. "I like Fred, I really do. I just don't want a boyfriend at the moment, especially not one I wouldn't be able to see for months on end. But enough about my non existent love life, it's not worth talking about," she said, desperate to steer the conversation onto a different topic. "What about you two?"

She was gratified top see that the girls looked every bit as uncomfortable as she had done moments before. "The boy I like barely sees me as a friend, and the one Hermione likes is oblivious," Ginny said.

Grinning, Evie said, "Don't worry. Harry would be an idiot to ignore you and Ron will come around sooner or later."

"How did you-?" Hermione spluttered.

"I have eyes, don't I?" Evie said. "And no, I don't think anyone else has noticed, especially not the boys in question."

Hermione began to say something, but caught a glimpse of her watch and let out a groan. "It's after five already! I had no idea it was that late!"

"It's Christmas Eve, mum will have us running around all day," Ginny said darkly. "She'll have us hanging decorations and stuffing mince pies for hours, you wait and see."

"We should probably get some sleep," Evie said. The other two girls nodded their agreement, and pushed their way through a small mountain of sweet wrappers to get to the door. They whispered their goodnights in the corridor, not wanting to wake anyone, and Evie retreated into her room for a few hours of sleep before breakfast. But no sooner had she begun to doze off than a loud snore jolted her back to wakefulness.

Suddenly alert, she grabbed her wand and slipped from the bed to kneel on the floor. The snore sounded as if it had come from beneath her bed, but how could it have done? Ginny and Hermione had been in her room since midnight; they would have noticed someone come in. "Lumos!" she muttered, poking her wand cautiously beneath the bed. The burst of light illuminated a large, shaggy dog curled up on the dusty floor.

"Sirius!" Evie cried, jumping so hard that she accidentally poked him with her wand. Sirius woke uttering a sharp yelp, more of shock than pain, and glowered into the glare, searching for the source of the disturbance. When he managed to make out Evie's silhouette through the bright light, he crawled from beneath the bed and resumed his human form, grinning sheepishly.

"What were you doing under there?" Evie demanded.

"There's really a very simple explanation," said Sirius, and then failed to provide it.

"Which is?" Evie prompted.

Sirius sighed. "It's stupid. I came to say goodnight, but you weren't here so I thought I'd wait. Then I heard you talking to Hermione in Ginny in the hall, and I couldn't think of a good reason for being here. So I hid."

"So you've been hiding under the bed for more than five hours," Evie said, lips twitching with amusement. A thought suddenly occurred to her and her smile froze. "Wait, exactly how much of our conversation did you hear?"

Now it was Sirius's turn to grin. "I fell asleep not long after Hermione told you two about kissing a certain Mr Krum."

"So that means you heard about _my _first kiss?" Evie asked, mortified.

Sirius nodded, a grave expression on his face although his eyes twinkled. "Don't worry. Since then you've improved greatly."

Evie's eyes widened and she pushed him lightly, causing him to stumble and fall onto the bed. "You-You-" she said, advancing on him with an accusatory finger.

"Scoundrel? Fiend?" he suggested. "If this is your reaction when someone compliments you, then remind me never to insult you."

"It was a very cheeky complimented," she muttered, and flopped down beside him. She would get him later; at the moment she was too exhausted to contemplate anything other than going to sleep. As Sirius turned and pulled her against him, showing all signs of spending the rest of the night exactly where he was, Evie's mind vaguely registered that she should make him return to his own bed. But that idea was gone within seconds, lost as fatigue made her thoughts sluggish.

A knock on the door made her groan. "Why does everyone always want to talk to me in the middle of the night?" she grumbled into Sirius's chest. "What gave them the idea that I don't need sleep?"

Sirius chuckled and disentangled himself from her. "I'll get rid of them," he said quietly. "If they ask what I'm doing here I'll say I heard your midnight party and broke it up, then took pity and stayed to help you hide the evidence."

A cry of, "What are _you _doing here?" reached Evie's ears the moment Sirius opened the door. "I could ask you the same question!" he said haughtily.

Evie recognised the voice of her early morning caller as belonging to one of the Weasley twins. Sighing, dreading the confrontation to come and longing for bed, she sat up and blinked against the bright light that spilled in from the corridor. Fred and George pushed their way past a glowering Sirius. One of them lit the room with a flick of his wand, eliciting a groan from Evie as she realised that sleep was still a long way off.

"We came to talk to Evie," said Fred tartly.

"At five in the morning?" Sirius asked sceptically.

"We had to wait for the slumber party to break up," George explained. "We only just heard Hermione and Ginny go to bed. But you still haven't told us what you're doing here."

"Not that we can't guess," muttered Fred. Evie rolled her eyes and flopped back down onto the mattress, burying her face in a pillow. Was it going to come to _this _again?

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" Sirius demanded hotly.

"Fred," George said warningly, but his brother ignored him.

"Well what do you _think _he was doing, or trying to do?" Fred hissed. "I don't think he had a game of exploding snap in mind, do you? It's like I said before: he's just trying to get into her knickers when there's no one here to look out for her."

"You're lacking in manners, boy," Sirius snarled. "Someone needs to teach you some courtesy."

A giggle stopped the two men as they reached for their wands. All three of them turned to see Evie, still lying face down on the bed, shaking with laughter. She pushed herself into a sitting position and wiped away the tears of mirth that had gathered on her cheeks.

"What's so funny?" Fred snapped.

"Don't speak to her in that tone!" Sirius said loudly.

This only seemed to make Evie laugh harder, and she clutched her sides as if in pain. "You two," she gasped after she had calmed down enough to speak. "I wouldn't find this funny normally. I _should_ be angry. But lucky for you, sleep deprivation and all the alcohol Ginny forced down my throat have made this whole situation hilarious."

"I like to laugh at my brother as much as the next person," George said, "but could you please explain exactly what about this is so funny?"

"I _am _an adult, you know. In fact, I'm older than you two," she said, gesturing towards the brothers. "But here you are, still attempting to defend my - my – maidenly virtue, or whatever it is that you're trying to protect. If – and I mean _if _- I value said maidenly virtue, then I'm perfectly capable of defending it myself. Otherwise I'll have as many strange men in my room as I like. Not that I want them," she added, seeing Sirius frown.

"Did she just call me strange?" he muttered to George.

"Although I do find your concern touching, I would appreciate it if you could cut back on the displays of testosterone. I'm not always going to be around to bang your heads together and make you see sense. Now," she slipped beneath the blanket and looked pointedly at the door. "If none of you mind, it's late and I'd like at least a couple of hours of sleep before I have to start hanging tinsel again."

Under her sharp gaze, the three men turned and filed from the room. The door shut behind them, they stood in the corridor looking dazedly at each other. "Does anyone know what just happened?" George asked.

* * *

As Ginny had predicted, Mrs Weasley found enough chores to keep everyone busy over Christmas Eve. Evie spent the greater part of the afternoon wrestling with an enormous Christmas tree that seemed to have a life of its own. She couldn't seem to make it stay in its stand, and when she eventually did the decorations kept slipping from the branches. She would have suspected Fred and George of playing a trick on her, but they had both been unusually subdued since the confrontation in the early hours of the morning. The evening was far more pleasant than the afternoon. Everyone sat around the fire in the kitchen, talking and munching on the products of hours of baking.

Evie spent a wonderful hour tucked away in a corner of the room with Remus. She hated not having him at Grimmauld Place, and hated even more that she had had so little time for him since his return. They discussed only light topics, avoiding Arthur Weasley's attack and Remus's activities outside of the house. She noted with worry that he was much paler than usual, the lines around his mouth and eyes far deeper, but she said nothing. She had the feeling that for at least a night he would like to forget illness and dangerous work for the Order.

Towards the end of the night, as everyone began to retire to bed, Harry gently pulled her away from the kitchen and into an empty room on the first floor. His expression was sombre, his green eyes stormy. It was with some trepidation that Evie asked him what was wrong.

"Snape," he said abruptly. "What do you think of him?"

She blinked for a moment in confusion. "The Professor? He's uptight and I wouldn't want to get on his bad side, but I have a lot of respect for him. He's a wonderful teacher."

"Don't trust him."

A long pause and then, frowning, she asked, "Why shouldn't I trust him? He's done a lot for me. If it wasn't for him-"

"He hates me," Harry said quietly. "He hated my - _our_ - dad too."

"Why does he-?"

"He hates me because he hated my dad, and he hated him all the time they were at school together." Harry sighed and looked away. "I'm not saying that you should stop your lessons with him; I know you need them. I'm just asking you to be on your guard around him."

Evie opened her mouth to protest, to argue that the Professor had risked injury or worse to help her, but something made her pause. In her mind's eyes she saw a man, Professor Snape, stealing into Grimmauld Place in the middle of the night. She saw him lean over her sleeping form, and then his retreat as she woke and screamed in terror. Hadn't she dreaded continuing her lessons with the Professor after glimpsing those images in her mind? The only reason she had felt comfortable being in the same room as him was because Remus had reassured her that she would be safe. Perhaps the Professor wasn't as trustworthy as Remus believed.

"I'll be careful," she promised.

* * *

Once again, Evie found herself awake at a time when she should have been curled up in bed. At midnight she stood outside Sirius's door, her stomach flipping pleasantly in anticipation. Quietly, she knocked on the door. Sirius's muffled voice bid her to enter and she slipped inside the room. He greeted her with a wide smile. "This is a pleasant surprise. Normally I come to you."

Swiftly she crossed the room and took his hand, tugging him gently off the bed. "Well tonight is special," she said. "It's time for me to give you your Christmas present."

He frowned. "But you can't give it to me now! It's not Christmas yet."

Tapping the face of her watch she said, "It's midnight, which makes it Christmas. Besides, I can't give you this present in front of everyone else."

Sirius's grin became wolfish. "Oh really?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Evie punched him lightly on the arm, fighting the smile that played around the corner of her lips. "Be serious or you won't get your present. Now come with me, and be quiet."

"Is this when I finally found out why I haven't been allowed in the attic?"

"Perhaps. Hold still, I need to blindfold you," she said, levelling her wand at his face. Surprisingly, he complied with her command and remained still as she conjured a thick blindfold to cover his eyes. Tightening her grip on his hand, she led him from the room. The hallway was easy to navigate, although she had to steer him around several small items that had somehow managed to survive the purge of the summer and had found their way into the corridor. The several flights of stairs were far more difficult, but after a lot of patience and several stubbed toes they eventually reached the top floor of the house.

Pointing her wand at the ceiling, Evie muttered a spell beneath her breath. A rickety wooden ladder descended to the floor. This time she had to guide Sirius with her voice as well as her hands, all the while steadying him so that he didn't slip and fall. When they eventually made it into the attic, she untied his blindfold with hands that shook. As the scrap of material fell away and Sirius regained his vision, Evie tried to imagine the attic as if she was seeing it for the first time.

The grimy wooden floorboards were hidden from sight beneath a carpet of thick, emerald grass dotted with bluebells. The walls, once yellowed from years of neglect, were covered with vines, some thick some delicate, bearing different coloured flowers. Scents from the jasmine, roses, lavender and rosemary growing around the room mingled and permeated the air with a pleasant aroma. In the middle of the attic, next to what was one of the smallest willow trees Evie had ever seen, was a tiny pond filled with clear, crisp water. She knew that breaking the mirror smooth surface with just the tip of her finger would raise goose pimples all along her arm.

Raising her eyes, she surveyed the ceiling that she had spent so many hours labouring on. She could hardly believe that the roof was made of brick and wood; all she could see was a clear summer's night, a half moon hanging bright in the sky and stars stretching as far as the eye could see. If Sirius preferred daylight, the enchanted ceiling could become a bright autumnal day, or an azure sky unmarred by dark clouds. A light breeze made grass and leaves rustle, and tickled the sensitive skin on the back of Evie's neck.

Sirius had yet to say anything. He gazed silently at the transformed attic, at the small piece of life inside the grim prison of his mother's house. "I know it's not a substitute for really being outside," Evie said softly, nervously, "but I thought it might help."

Slowly, agonisingly slowly to Evie, Sirius turned to face her. His eyes were wide, his lips parted slightly. "You did all of this?" he whispered.

"Not _all _of it. I did a lot, but I couldn't have done it without Remus's help." She frowned slightly. "Don't you like it?"

"Of course I do," he said, moving towards her and cupping her cheek with his hand. "It's - Well, there aren't words for it. But _why_? Why did you go to all of this trouble for me?"

She couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Didn't you and my dad spend years learning how to become animagi so that you could keep Remus company at full moon? That certainly would have been a lot of hard work, not to mention a lot of trouble if you'd have been caught. But it's worth it for the people you love."

Later, Evie would think that until that moment Sirius still had reservations about their relationships. As the meaning of her words seemed to sink in, the questioning look in his eyes softened. Sliding a finger beneath her chin, he tilted her face upwards and his lips landed on hers in a soft kiss. The moment lengthened and tenderness turned into passion, Evie standing on the tips of her toes to deepen the kiss. Their hands roamed each others bodies in exploration and soon they found themselves in a similar state of undress as on the night on Arthur's attack, but this time there was no interruption. Sirius pulled away. "You're sure?" he asked, eyes intent on her. Evie smiled, nervousness mingling with anticipation, and nodded, and Sirius leaned in to kiss her again.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **A happy Christmas is shattered by a disturbing visit from Professor Snape. 


	36. Control

**Summary**: Bonding for Evie and Sirius and a disastrous visit from Snape. First part from Sirius's perspective. Some of the dialogue taken straight from the chapter "Occlumency" in Order of the Phoenix.

* * *

Close to the morning, Evie and Sirius were still in the attic. They lay beneath a thick blanket that Sirius had conjured from thin air, and the soft grass created by Remus and Evie served as a surprisingly comfortable mattress. What came as a shock to Sirius was the complete absence of guilt. During weeks of stealing kisses in dark corners, he had wondered whether he was doing the right thing or whether he truly was taking advantage of a vulnerable young woman as Fred claimed. His loss of control on the night of Arthur's attack had unnerved him even as Evie had reassured him that he hadn't done anything she didn't invite. Now they had actually slept together and God hadn't rained fiery retribution from the sky, a tight knot of tension that had existed in his chest for weeks eased.

"So you like it?" Evie murmured. When Sirius looked at her quizzically she grinned and waved her arm, indicating the room.

"Of course I do," he replied, tightening his hold around her waist.

"It must be horrible for you here," she said quietly. "I don't like not being able to leave, but it has to be a hundred times worse for you."

"It's prison." His voice was soft. Whenever he had spoke of his captivity in Grimmauld Place he'd always sounded so bitter, his voice harsh. But now he wasn't raging against not being able to fight for the Order or being treated like a child who needed to be told what to do for his own good. This was the truth: it wasn't the anger he harboured towards Dumbledore or the bile he reserved especially for Snape. This was the frustration at the utter helplessness of his situation. "I thought I could leave if I wanted to," he continued. "I'd be risking the wrath of Dumbledore and Mad Eye, but I could still leave. When it was vital for me to do so, when I couldn't stand the thought of staying safe when someone I care about needed me, Dumbledore cast spells that made certain I couldn't leave the house."

Evie propped herself up on an elbow to look at him more closely, a frown of concern on her face. "That's awful," she said, and he knew that she meant it. "When was this? I don't remember-"

"It was before you came here," Sirius interrupted. This wasn't true, but he didn't want her to know that it had been when she was kidnapped by the Death Eater. He didn't want to remind her of the day her aunt and uncle were murdered, of her captor and torture at his hands.

Perhaps sensing his discomfort, Evie changed the subject. "Do you have any plans yet? I mean for what you'll do after your name has been cleared by the Ministry and everyone knows you're innocent."

Sirius shrugged. "To be honest, I try not to plan ahead. I learned in Azkaban that if I thought about all of the wonderful stuff I _could_ be doing, I'd go mad." He paused thoughtfully before adding, "I owned a bike once. A motorbike that flew. I'm not sure where it ended up after I was arrested, but I'd like to build a new one."

Now lying down against his chest again, Sirius could feel Evie's grin rather than see it. "You owned a flying motorbike? Why does that not surprise me?"

Sirius chuckled, a deep sound that rumbled from his chest. "What about you?" he asked. "What will you do when Voldemort isn't looking for you anymore?"

"Get to know Harry better," she replied immediately. "It's hard to get to know him when I'm here and he's at the other end of the country. And then there's..." she trailed off into silence.

"And then there's what?" Sirius prompted.

"My aunt Mae," Evie said softly. "When I first came here I started to think that there was more to her that I ever knew about. We were never poor, but we weren't exactly rich either. For as long as I knew them they ran a small farm and looked after me. But the more I think about that, the more it doesn't make sense."

"What do you mean?"

"Mae was an expert when it came to potions, especially healing potions. Since coming here I've realised that she knew as much about magic as the Order members do, and most of them work for the Ministry or at Hogwarts. There there's this power; it's not mine, not really. It was a part of her. But I never once saw her lose control of it."

"You think there's more to her than she told you about?" Sirius asked.

"I _know_ there was more to her. And, what's more, I know who to task to find out about her."

"Who?"

"Professor Dumbledore. He was the one who arranged for me to live with them. But," she shook her head, "I can't ask him at the moment. Not when he has so much to worry about already."

Sirius privately thought that Dumbledore owed Evie whatever kind of explanation she wanted about the people who raised her as their own child, but he didn't argue. he had known Evie long enough to know that there were some issues she couldn't be moved on.

It was with a sinking feeling that Sirius realised they should return to their separate rooms. It was nearly morning, and everyone rose early on Christmas Day. In just a couple of hours, everyone would be awake and opening presents, and Molly would be preparing her usual spectacular roast dinner. He wasn't quite ready to leave yet; their pillow of grass was far more comfortable than his own bed, and he was sharing it with Evie.

Unfortunately, Evie seemed to realise the time for herself, because she groaned and reluctantly pushed the blanket back. As she stood, Sirius caught her by the wrist and pulled her back down by his side. "We don't have to leave just yet," he said firmly.

* * *

The morning passed in the blink of an eye. Evie spent most of it distributing the various presents she had bought. Harry was thrilled with the teaching aids for his DA classes, and she managed to make peace with Fred and George with _Bondat's Beverages_ and _Devious Devices_. Remus had tried to refuse his new cloak and coat, but reluctantly accepted them after Evie pointed out that they would hardly fit her. In return, she received a knitted jumper from Mrs. Weasley, several large slabs of Honeydukes chocolate from Hermione and inny, a large book that looked as if it had been written several centuries ago from Harry, an ever lasting tulip from Remus (a tribute to the flowers they had laboured over in the attic), and a delicate looking watch from Sirius along with a copy of _Jane Eyre_. ("What was it you told me?" he asked with a grin. "The one with the mad wife in the attic?")

After the Weasleys, Remus, Harry and Hermione had visited Mr. Weasley in hospital, everyone sat down to Christmas dinner. Several hours later they were still full to bursting and lounging in the comfortable armchairs of the first floor sitting room. The Hogwarts students were full of stories about Dolores Umbridge, and took great relish in plotting various ways to force her from the castle. Sirius and Remus offered advice and suggestions while Evie laughed quietly and Mrs. Weasley listened with a disapproving frown.

The days after Christmas flew by just as quickly. Evie noticed that Sirius seemed torn: he loved having the house full and time with Harry, but he also looked forward to not having to sneak around with Evie all of the time. Time hurried by regardless of his feelings, and soon it was the last day of the school holidays.

Evie, along with Hermione and Ginny, was watching Harry lose a game of wizard chess against Ron when Mrs. Weasley appeared in the doorway. "Harry, dear," she said, "could you come down to the kitchen? Professor Snape would like a word with you."

"Snape?" Harry asked in horror.

"Professor Snape," Mrs. Weasley corrected firmly. "He'd like to see you too, Evie. Something about arranging the time of your next lesson."

Nodding, Evie slipped from her seat beside Hermione and followed her brother from the room. When they entered the kitchen they sound Sirius and Snape sitting at the table, creating an oppressive atmosphere. The professor glared at Harry as they came in. "Sit down, Potter," he ordered.

"You know," Sirius said, glaring at the potions teacher, "I'd prefer it if you didn't give orders here, Snape. It's my house, you see."

Snape's eyes narrowed but he refrained from retorting. Instead he focused on Harry and said, "I was supposed to see you alone, Potter, but Black-"

"I'm his godfather," interrupted Sirius.

"I am here on Dumbledore's order, but by all means stay, Black, I know you like to feel... involved."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius demanded hotly.

"Merely that I am sure you must feel frustrated," Snape said silkily, "by the fact that you can do nothing useful for the Order."

Evie glared at the Professor as Sirius flushed an angry red. She knew that the two disliked each other, but she hadn't thought that the Professor would attempt to wound Sirius in such a way. As Snape explained Harry's Occlumecy lessons, she moved to stand behind her brother and lover, laying a protective hand on the back of each of their chairs. The rest of the meeting was relatively peaceful until Sirius warned Snape not to give Harry a hard time during their lessons.

Snape's mouth twitched into an amused sneer. "How touching. But surely you have noticed that Potter is very like his father?"

There was more than a hint of pride in Sirius's voice when he said, "Yes, I have."

"Well, then, you'll know he's so arrogant that criticism simply bounces off him."

Sirius was out of his chair and in front of Snape in an instant, his wand pointing directly at the other man's face as Snape pulled out his own wand. Harry cried out a warning to Sirius while Evie lurched towards the two furious men, unsure of what to do. "I've warned you, _Snivellus_," Sirius snarled. "I don't care if Dumbledore thinks you've reformed, I know better."

"Oh, but why don't you tell him so?" whispered Snape in the same silky, wounding voice he had used earlier. "Or are you afraid he might not take very seriously the advice of a man who has been hiding inside his mother's house for six months?"

"Professor!" Evie cried, dismayed and angered.

"Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he?"

"Speaking of dogs, did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognised you last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform... gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey hold in future, didn't it?"

"No!" Harry shouted as Sirius raised his wand. "Sirius, don't!" Harry and Evie moved at the same time, vaulting over the table and skidding to a halt next to Sirius. While Harry placed himself between the two men, Evie grabbed Sirius's wand arm, pleading with him to calm down.

"Are you calling me a coward?" roared Sirius, trying to get a clear aim at Snape through Evie and Harry.

"Why, yes, I suppose I am."

At that moment the kitchen door swung open and in walked the Weasleys and Hermione, all wearing large smiles, Mr. Weasley in their midst. "Cured!" he proclaimed. "Completely cured - Merlin's beard! What's going on here?"

"Professor," Evie said abruptly as Snape and Sirius lowered and stowed their wands away, "you wanted to speak to me about the time of our next lesson. Perhaps we should discuss it in private." Without waiting for a reply, ignoring Sirius's protests, she turned and strode from the kitchen. She didn't have to look behind to know the Snape was following; from what she had just seen, she knew that if Sirius didn't want her to be alone with Snape, then Snape would happily comply with her request for privacy.

"How dare you?" she hissed the moment they were alone in the hallway and the door leading to the kitchen was shut. She was so furious that she had to thrust her hands into her pockets to hide their trembling.

Snape cocked an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

"In the last quarter of an hour you have insulted my father and brother, and as for what you said to Sirius-"

"Someone needed to take your arrogant godfather down a peg or two."

"He hates being stuck here," Evie said, fighting to keep her voice down. "And you-" she looked into his eyes. "You know it, don't you? You know he hates not being able to fight. If he goes and does something stupid because of what you said today-"

"I would advise you not to threaten me," Snape said in his most dangerous voice. "I assure you that any harm that befalls Black is his own fault, and well deserved."

Evie hid her face behind her hands. It had been a while since her last lesson with Snape, and she had almost forgotten how difficult it was to reign in the dangerous side of her power. It was like trying to hold molten glass in her bare hands. Snape continued his tirade against Sirius, adding to the fury that fueled her power. Evie sagged against the nearest wall, the effort of containing the raw energy that would kill Snape if it was let loose bringing her to her knees.

"SHUT UP!" she screamed.

As if from a great distance she heard the kitchen door crash open and two sets of feet hurrying across the floor. Someone touched her shoulder, but they yelped and yanked their hand back as if burned. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?" a voice roared, and Evie was dimly aware that it belonged to Sirius.

There was a brief scuffled and a loud bang followed by a cry of mingled pain and anger from Sirius. A tiny thread of Evie's power slipped through her grasp and leapt towards Snape. It slammed squarely into his chest, lifting him off his feet and flinging him against the wall. He slid unconscious to the floor, a small bead of blood trickling from his nose.


	37. Truth

**Summary: **Sirius pays a visit to Dumbledore and demands some answers.

* * *

When Evie woke she discovered that someone had moved her to her bed. To her consternation, she saw that bright sunlight streamed through a crack in the curtains. How was that possible? The last time she looked the sky had been grey and the sun was nowhere in sight. An image came into focus in her mind's eye: Professor Snape's furious face close to hers as they argued. Slowly, the entire memory came back to her. The effort of controlling her power and its escape from her grasp must have knocked her into unconsciousness. If the sun was already up then she must have slept for at least twelve hours.

What of Professor Snape? How badly had he been wounded when he crashed into the wall? An awful thought sprang up and swallowed her whole: could she have killed him? With what seemed like an enormous effort, she pulled herself up into a sitting position. She remained upright for only a few seconds before a wave of dizziness forced her back down again. She tried to call for Sirius only to find that her voice barely existed. It was little more than a croak, and the effort of it made her throat throb.

Evie was all too aware that she only had moments left before she fell asleep again. Although she had pulled herself up for mere seconds, it had cost her dearly. She _needed _to find out what had happened to the Professor before she succumbed to unconsciousness again. For the second time she called for Sirius, and for the second time she received no reply. With a sinking feeling she realised that the Hogwarts students were due to return to school today – perhaps Sirius had decided to ignore Professor Dumbledore's cautions and see them off. After all, only a week ago he had complained about not being able to leave the house.

Fatigue was a thick blanket wrapping around her mind, making her thoughts broken and incoherent. Before she fell asleep, one last idea came through clearly. Perhaps, her treacherous mind whispered, Sirius is here and heard you perfectly well. Perhaps he has come to his senses. He's had doubts about the two of you ever since your trip to Hogsmeade, and you've confirmed them by blasting a man into a wall. With that last thought to chase her through her dreams – or nightmares – she gave in to sleep.

* * *

Sirius tried not to imagine the look on Harry's face if he knew that his godfather had just apparated to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. It would probably be nothing compared to the horror on Molly's or Hermione's. Although he had been resentful of Harry's cautious attitude to Sirius venturing outside of Grimmauld Place, he knew that there was a good reason for it and he didn't want to worry the boy. Wouldn't he feel the same if his parents had died and his godfather risked dying every time he set foot out of the house? Perhaps that was a bad example – never having to see his parents again was one of the few good things about his life.

He had promised himself that he wouldn't leave the house again unless it was absolutely necessary. Being imprisoned inside the miserable place for an indefinite period of time wasn't a thought that he relished, but if it brought Harry and Evie some peace of mind then it would be worth it. However, the accident between Evie and Snape yesterday meant that a visit to Dumbledore was in order. Snape hadn't been seriously injured and, to Sirius's intense discomfort, he had even agreed to continue teaching Evie control of the power that could have killed him. During his sleepless night at Evie's side, Sirius had thought of a hundred reasons why Snape would agree to continue the lessons, and none of them pleased him.

As well as Snape's suspicious generosity, Sirius got the distinct impression that the headmaster of Hogwarts was keeping something from him. Ever since Evie's kidnapping and the emergence of her new power he had hardly visited Grimmauld Place. He hadn't even visited after Arthur's attack, and he would have had ample opportunity to slip away without arousing suspicion as it was the Christmas holidays. Sirius couldn't help but think that Dumbledore was avoiding Evie, which meant that he wasn't telling her the entire truth about the deadly power she had inherited from her aunt.

The journey through the Forbidden Forest was long, and Sirius wore his dog form for both secrecy and speed. He had apparated immediately after Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys had left for the Hogwarts Express so he knew he had hours before the students arrived on the grounds, but he wanted to have to sneak past as few people as possible. After months of being stuck inside he had become unaccustomed to long journeys, and by the time he cleared the trees his paws were throbbing from repeated jabbings by sticks and rocks.

To his surprise, Dumbledore was waiting for him outside the castle. Without a word the headmaster turned and disappeared into Hagrid's cabin, leaving the door open for Sirius to follow. Sirius trotted inside, noting that the half giant occupant of the cabin was absent. A large copper kettle boiled over a fire flickering in the hearth, and Dumbledore asked casually, "Tea, Sirius?"

"I'm not here for lunch," grumbled Sirius as he took his human shape.

"I had guessed as much," said Dumbledore, and seated himself with a sigh in one of Hagrid's enormous, rickety chairs.

* * *

Remus knocked on Evie's door, and pushed it open when he received no answer. The hinges creaked, an ear splitting shriek in the silent room. In the early afternoon light he could see that Evie still slept, although her rest was far from sound. Beads of sweat gathered on her pallid forehead, and even her rosy lips were drained of colour. As her breathing became increasingly shallow, her eyes darted frantically beneath their closed lids.

Deciding that she was in no fit state to eat, Remus set down the tray he had prepared for her. The food was plain, but he doubted that her stomach would be able to handle that simple meal, even if he managed to wake her up. There was no chair in sight and he knew without trying that he lacked the concentration to transfigure one, so he perched on the edge of the bed, careful not to sit on any lumps in the blankets that might be an arm or a leg.

He laid a hand on her forehead, hoping that it would feel cooler than it looked. It burned beneath his touch. There was nothing he could do for her until Sirius returned from visiting Dumbledore. Remus hoped that Sirius would return quickly, but he doubted it; he couldn't imagine Sirius passing up an opportunity to vent some of the frustration that had been brewing over the past few months on the man who kept him at Grimmauld Place.

As a member of the Order who risked his life on perilous missions, Remus had made it his business to learn at least rudimentary first aid. If this was a normal fever he would have been able to cure it in an instant, but this was no normal fever. Once he had recovered from his knock, Severus had told them to expect some weakness in Evie after such a display of power. But she had been unconscious for almost a full day now, and she wouldn't find any healing in such a restless sleep.

He hadn't quite realised how much Evie had come to mean to him. Like Sirius, he had been thrilled to have her back after the initial shock of discovering that she still lived. She was a link to his long dead friends and a chance for Harry to have a family who loved him, not to mention bright company in the grim house. When he'd first discovered her secret relationship with Sirius, he had, of course, had his doubts, but after seeing how happy it made them both he'd decided that it couldn't be a bad thing.

Although Sirius didn't know it, Remus had also been unable to sleep after Evie's collapse of the previous night. The long, sleepless night had given him many hours in which to think. He loved and cared for Harry deeply, but it was always Sirius who Harry saw as a brother or father. Evie's deadly power had given her a deeper understanding of the isolation caused by Remus's affliction, and had fostered a closer relationship between the two. Remus was coming to regard her as the daughter he never thought he would have, and he had been given a glimpse into what their relationship would have been had Lily and James never been murdered. That he had no idea of how to help her when she needed him the most was torment.

Remus took her small hand in his and gently squeezed her limp fingers. He resisted the urge to pull the watch from his pocket; staring at its face wouldn't make Sirius return any sooner.

* * *

"There's something you're not telling us," Sirius growled, fighting to keep his voice quiet. He gripped the back of the chair he had been invited to sit on, his knuckles white.

"What do you think I am keeping from you, Sirius?" Dumbledore asked calmly. When he received no response he continued, "If you think I am not being entirely truthful with you, you must have some idea."

Sirius had a very good idea, but he hesitated to voice it. He knew little about the power that Evie had inherited from her aunt, but what he did know was that it was very different from the magic he and every witch and wizard he knew possessed. His magic was as much a part of him as whatever made him think and feel. It was in his blood, immovable. Even if a wizard lost his magic, after a great shock or tragedy, it wasn't really gone. It was still inside of him, just hidden so clouded by grief that he couldn't find it.

But Evie's power was something entirely different. It wasn't a part of her at all. Perhaps it had belonged to Mae, or perhaps she had inherited it in much the same way as her adopted daughter. It was almost like a parasite, leeching on Evie's strongest emotions to fuel itself. While he could no more remove her natural magic than he could snuff out the sun, perhaps the new power could be stripped away, or at the very least pushed to a place inside of her where it couldn't break free.

Perhaps Dumbledore saw the question in his eyes, or perhaps he had just been expecting Sirius to ask him about it for a long time. Either way, he said, "What you believe is possible."

Sirius blinked, stunned. "Then why didn't you mention this before?" he demanded after he had recovered.

Dumbledore sighed. "I feared that Evie would rid herself of the power before thinking the situation through properly."

"So you let her think she was stuck with a power that could kill anyone at any time?" Sirius said hotly. "You let her think she was a danger to the people she loved, and made her relive her worst memories in the lessons with Snape!"

"You fail to understand that this power was passed to her for a _reason_," said Dumbledore, his voice sharp. "Do you think Mae would have forced it upon her if its' only potential was for harm? Of course not! Mae loved her like her own daughter."

"It doesn't matter _why _she has this power – you're making a decision that should be hers! You _need _to tell her that you can get rid of it if that's what she wants."

"No," Dumbledore said gravely, rising to his feet. "If I offer her this option now, so soon after what happened to Severus, she will snatch it without thinking."

Sirius fixed him with a steady gaze, refusing to quail under the headmaster's piercing stare. "If you don't tell her, I will."


	38. Decisions

Sorry for the delay, coursework has been keeping me busy. I love Remus in this chapter.

* * *

When Sirius and Dumbledore arrived at Grimmauld Place it was to find that Evie was no longer in bed. She sat at the kitchen table, trembling fingers wrapped around a cup of steaming tea, while Remus talked to her in a low voice. She dropped her eyes to the tabletop as Dumbledore entered the room. Dumbledore took a seat opposite Evie and gently placed his hand over hers, his mouth twitching into a sad frown when she flinched. It was plain to everyone that she expected some sort of reprimand or punishment for what happened to Snape, even though she had exerted all her will and exhausted herself to keep her power in check.

"Professor Snape is fine, my dear," Dumbledore reassured her. There was clear disbelief in Evie's face but she did not argue or accuse him of lying. "I believe," Dumbledore continued, "that he would be insulted at the idea that you could cause him lasting damage."

Evie's mouth twitched into a tiny smile. Yes, that sounded like the kind of thing the proud professor would say. "I am here on another matter," Dumbledore said, and Sirius noticed that he withdrew his hand from Evie's. He couldn't blame the headmaster; he doubted that the gesture would be welcome in a few moments. But as soon as Dumbledore released her, Evie's fingers began to tremble. Sirius swiftly dropped into the seat next to her and took her hand, not caring whether Dumbledore thought it inappropriate.

"I am afraid," said Dumbledore, "that I haven't been entirely honest with you."

This drew Evie's eyes from the tabletop to meet Dumbledore's piercing blue gaze. She said nothing, waiting silently for him to continue. He cleared his throat. "I have led you to believe that you must learn to control the power passed on to you by Mae. This isn't necessarily true."

"Of course she must," Remus said softly. "She could hurt herself if it's allowed to run free."

"Or other people," Evie added, her voice barely audible.

"You must learn to control your power only if you choose to keep it," said Dumbledore.

Silence followed this announcement. Remus looked from Dumbledore to Sirius and then back again as if expecting to see an explanation written on their faces. Evie's mouth moved silently, framing the word _'if' _over and over again. Eventually she asked, "If? _If? _You mean I can decide to get rid of it?" Her voice cracked, whether from tiredness, emotion or lack of use Sirius did not know.

Dumbledore met Evie's gaze levelly, although Sirius didn't know how he had the gall to. "There is a way to strip you of your power. Not the power you were born with, that will remain untouched, but the power you inherited from Mae."

Remus grinned broadly and squeezed Evie's shoulder, but she looked too stunned to celebrate. Her facial features were frozen with shock, preventing her from even smiling. "How long have you known?" she asked.

Eyes unflinching, Dumbledore said, "Since I first learned the nature of your power."

The smile on Remus's lips faded, and his eyes caught Sirius's. The question in them was clear: had Sirius too known about this from the beginning? Sirius shook his head almost imperceptibly. "Why didn't you tell me?" whispered Evie, her hand shaking beneath Sirius's.

Dumbledore sighed, removing his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I worried that fear of the power would cause you to make a rash decision."

"Of course she was afraid," Sirius snapped, speaking for the first time since his arrival. Before leaving Hogwarts he had agreed that he would keep his silence while Dumbledore explained himself, but he was finding it increasingly difficult to hold both his tongue and temper in check. "Who wouldn't have been afraid? You had no right to take this decision away from her."

"I did what I thought was best."

"You-!"

"Get rid of it," said Evie quietly.

Sirius and Dumbledore fell silent, turning their eyes on her. "Evie, please," Dumbledore began. "Before you make any decisions-"

"She's already told you her decision, she wants to get rid of it," Sirius interrupted, something close to triumph in his voice.

"You fail to consider the consequences!" Dumbledore said, rounding on Sirius. "The potential in this power is almost limitless."

"That's just like you, thinking of the power rather than the person," Sirius accused. "You-"

"Both of you be quiet!" snapped Remus. He was on his feet glaring at the other two men. One of his hands still rested protectively on Evie's shoulder. Both Dumbledore and Sirius were surprised by the fierce glint in his eyes and the angry tone in his voice; Remus very rarely got angry. "This isn't about the expansion of magical knowledge or power. Neither," he said, noting the smug grin Sirius wore, "is it about winning a victory over someone you're angry with. This is Evie's decision, and Evie's decision alone. Offer advice but do not try to manipulate her decision for your own petty reasons."

Before the men had a chance to argue, Remus turned his back on them and knelt down so that his face was at a level with Evie's. "Ignore them," he ordered as her eyes drifted over his shoulder to Sirius and Dumbledore. She obeyed, bringing her eyes back to his. "I'm sure you know the consequences of your decision. If you choose to keep the power, you risk injuring yourself or someone else if you lose control, but you retain the gift of being able to heal effortlessly. If you choose to rid yourself of the power, there's no chance you will ever hurt someone with it. But so too do you lose the power to heal. What do _you _want, Evie?"

"I'm scared," she whispered.

Remus took her hand. "I know."

"I want it gone," she said, and although her voice trembled it was clear that her intent was firm. "I know that without it I'd probably be dead, but I want it gone. I don't want to hurt anyone else."

"You're sure?" Remus asked. Evie nodded. Relinquishing her hand, Remus rose to his feet and turned to Dumbledore. "How do we do it? How do we get rid of it?"

"It would normally take a month to brew, but I had Severus create a portion weeks ago." He drew a small phial from a pocket inside his cloak. The potion inside was an eye smarting shade of red, and it bubbled so violently that it shook the bottle. "In effect it is a poison, and it can cause the drinker great pain. We will have to put Evie into a deep sleep."

It took them a little over an hour to prepare. Evie had to be forced to eat and drink to raise her strength; the potion would make her ill for days afterwards, but the effects would be far worse if she drank it in a weakened state. Once Dumbledore was satisfied that she had eaten as much as her fragile stomach could cope with, he led her, along with Remus and Sirius, to her bedroom. "This will be somewhat unpleasant," he warned her as he uncorked the phial.

Evie recoiled as the scent reached her nose. It wasn't the most unpleasant smell she had ever experienced, but neither was it encouraging. Grimacing, she brought the phial to her lips and drained the liquid in one gulp. The moment the last drop of potion had vanished, Dumbledore flicked his wand and Evie slipped out of consciousness.

The next time Evie woke, her vision was blurred. She blinked once, twice, and the world began to come into focus. She was no longer in her room; she was outside, lying in long grass, bathed in sunlight. At her side sat Remus, smiling at her kindly. "Where am I?" she asked as he gently pulled her into a sitting position.

"Don't you recognise this place?" he asked.

Evie looked around, blinking in the glare from the sun. She did indeed recognise this place; she had spent most of her life here. She had been very happy here. "Yes, I do. But how? This can't be real. It was..." she trailed off, unable to say it.

"Burned," Remus said for her. "In reality this house, this garden, was burned. But they are preserved perfectly in your mind."

"Is that where we are? My mind?" Remus nodded. Evie continued, "Does that mean you're not really Remus?"

"I am also a part of your mind," Remus said calmly. "I am here because you have a vital decision to make, and this is a form you trust above all others. I must help you make your decision."

"What decision?" Evie asked, brow furrowing. "Whether to keep my power? I've already made my mind up."

"Your body is fighting the poison that will destroy your power. If you choose to do so, you will be able to throw it off completely."

"Why would I do that?"

Remus rose to his feet and extended his hand to Evie to help her up. He guided her over to a large pond that most certainly did not belong in Mae and Aaron's carefully tended garden. Its waters were murky, swirling with mud and debris; even on the brightest days the bottom would be hidden from view. "The wizarding world is reaching a crucial time in its history. You must know this or I wouldn't know it. You can see it on the faces of the Order members, in Sirius's eyes during your defence lessons, even if you try not to acknowledge it. There will be a war. The Order will fight. The Weasleys will fight. Harry and Sirius will fight. The man whose face I wear will fight. And you, Evie. You too will fight. The consequences of the decision you are about to make will effect everything."

Remus pointed at the pond, and an image formed on its surface. Harry's unmoving face, a small line of blood trickling from the corner of his open mouth. The image dispersed and reformed itself. Sirius being blasted through the air by a hulking, vicious faced Death Eater. Fred and George with smiles frozen on their faces forever. Remus, his face contorted with pain, pressing his hand over a gushing wound in his side. Mrs. Weasley sobbing into the chest of her husband's still body. Dozens of different images chased each other over the surface of the pond. Each showed the same thing: the people she loved injured or dying.

"You could have saved them," the Remus standing at her side said softly. "If you had kept your power, you could have saved their lives. Are you willing to sacrifice them?"

"I could have killed them," Evie countered. "I could have lost my temper, lost control, and killed them." The images in the pond cleared as quickly as chalk being erased from a blackboard. Seconds later they were replaced by a fresh set of scenarios. Each of them featured a strand of power leaping from an enraged Evie to slam into one of her friends. Sirius fell with the exhilaration of a good fight still alive in his eyes, while Harry's glazed eyes silently accused her. The final image showed Snape being lifted of his feet and thrown into a wall in the corridor of Grimmauld Place.

"Are you ready to choose, Evie?" Remus asked, his voice kind. "There will be no going back from this, no more second chances like the one you have just been offered."

Evie nodded, her heart drumming against her chest. "I'm ready. Or as ready as I'll ever be, anyway."

"What do you choose, Evie?"

"I want the power gone. I know how to heal as well as anyone else with potions and wand work, Mae made sure of that. But if I lose control and let the power hurt or kill someone I care about, I'll never be able to forgive myself."

"You're certain of this?" Remus asked, studying her face carefully.

"I'm certain."

"In that case, it's time for you to wake up."


	39. Apology

Sirius's mood was black. He sat by the side of Evie's bed, smoothing loose hair off her forehead as she slept. Although she seemed peaceful now, she had been tossing and turning violently until only a few minutes ago. He would have liked to ask Dumbledore whether this was a normal side effect of the potion, but the headmaster had already left. Albus had a school to run, students to care for; it didn't matter to him what happened to Evie at Grimmauld Place.

As a quiet moan escaped Evie's lips, Sirius found that he had to quickly withdraw his hand to clench it into a trembling fist. He was furious with Dumbledore. If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to stay and watch over Evie until she woke, he would apparate to Hogwarts and confront the headmaster, consequences be damned. That would have to wait until later, until he was certain that the potion hadn't caused any lasting damage.

A gentle tapping roused Sirius from his extremely satisfying thoughts of screaming at Dumbledore. Glancing over his shoulder, Sirius found Remus leaning against the doorframe. When he motioned for Sirius to come to him, Sirius began to ask why but Remus quickly shook his head, pressing a finger against his lips and then pointing to Evie, indicating that he didn't want to wake her. Reluctantly Sirius got to his feet. "What is it?" he asked the moment they were in the corridor and the door was shut.

"I need to talk to you," Remus replied in a whisper. "Come to the kitchen where we can speak freely."

"I don't want to leave her. She could wake any minute."

"It won't take long and it's important. Please," pleaded Remus. Sirius glanced at the shut door, then back at his friend's worried face and found himself nodding. They descended the stairs as quickly as they could whilst avoiding so many creaky steps and hurried into the kitchen. The instant that the door was shut Remus said, "I'm worried about Evie."

Sirius sighed. "We're all worried about Evie. Well, with the exception of Dumbledore," he added bitterly. "You'd think he didn't care about her at all, the way he - "

"And that is precisely what I need to talk to you about," interrupted Remus. "You're not helping Evie when you do that."

"Do what?" asked Sirius, frowning.

"Getting angry all of the time. Every time you lose your temper Evie is the one who ends up getting hurt." Sirius snorted in disbelief, but Remus ploughed on. "Think about it, Sirius," he said gravely. "Think about how disappointed and upset she was after you lost your temper and cursed Fred. And it was the fight that you got into with Severus that led to her losing control. Not to mention the fact that you let your anger with Dumbledore cloud your judgement to such an extent that you turned Evie's decision about her power into some sort of competition."

Sirius opened his mouth to argue but found that he had nothing to defend himself with. When he really thought about it, as Remus had requested, his inability to control his temper had caused Evie pain. He would never forget the disappointment in her eyes after he had cursed Fred, and if he hadn't gotten into that fight with Snape she might never have felt the need to get rid of her power. "Alright," he grumbled finally. "I'll try and stay calm in the future. But that doesn't mean that I have to like some of Dumbledore's methods, or that I'm suddenly bosom friends with Snape."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I know not to ask for miracles. Now," he pushed Sirius gently towards the table, where a sandwich waited. "You will eat before returning to Evie. You don't want to be confined to your sickbed when she's well enough to leave hers."

* * *

Severus had entered Grimmauld Place numerous times unannounced, but never before had it made him feel guilty. There were two reasons why he felt like he was doing something illicit on this occasion. Firstly, the last time he had visited this house he had become entangled in a fight which had left both himself and Evie unconscious. Secondly, his feelings for Evie weren't entirely as a teacher's should be for a student. They weren't, as Black had accused him of, romantic. It was only that he saw so much of Lily in her, and that comforted him even as it opened old wounds.

He made his way quickly and quietly up the stairs, silently thanking his luck that the kitchen door was closed and Black and Lupin's voices were behind it. That should give him at least a couple of minutes in which to talk to Evie without Black's interference. Thankfully, he already knew which room belonged to Evie and so he wasn't forced to waste precious time searching for it. When he arrived there he found her sitting up in bed and blinking blearily, as if she had just woken. "Professor!" she croaked in surprise as he walked through the door.

He winced at the volume of her voice, grateful that it wouldn't carry to where Black and Lupin sat several floors below. "Good evening, Evie," he said quietly. "I hope my visit hasn't come at an inconvenient time."

"Not at all," she said, although the paleness of her complexion and general state of dishevelment betrayed this as a lie. She paused for a moment before gushing, "I'm so sorry, Professor. What I did to you the other day was unforgivable. I didn't mean to do it, but that's no excuse, I should have had better control. I should have-"

Severus held up his hand for silence and Evie obeyed immediately, watching him with worried eyes. "There is no need to apologise," he said slowly. "In fact, I should be the one asking forgiveness. My behaviour," he said, raising his tone to be heard over Evie's protests, "was inexcusable. Losing my temper with Bl – Sirius, that is understandable. The man would test the patient of saint. But I should not have taken my anger out on you."

She shook her head rapidly. "No, professor, please don't blame yourself. I-"

"I am afraid that on this matter we must agree to disagree," he interrupted. "My time here is limited and I would prefer to leave before anyone becomes aware of my presence." He took a deep, calming breath before asking the question that he needed to ask, the question that had been eating at him since Dumbledore had informed him of Evie's decision. "Dumbledore tells me that you have elected to strip yourself of your power. I have to know: did you choose to do so because of the consequences of our confrontation?"

"No." When Severus raised his eyebrows, she admitted, "Well, not completely. That did have something to do with it, but that was only part of the reason for my decision." Here she smiled sadly. "I'm running out of family, Professor. Even the happiest of families drive each other crazy at times, and God knows Sirius drives me round the bend sometimes. I can't afford to lose my temper and hurt someone I love if I get into a fight with Sirius or Harry or Remus over something small and stupid."

"Your power could have been great," Severus pointed out gently.

"Could have been," said Evie. "There's no point in speculating about what might have happened now. I made my decision."

Severus wanted to tell her that he would have continued to teach her had she chosen differently, that he was sorry, that to make that difficult decision had taken a lot of courage, but he heard footsteps approaching and voices floating up the stairs. "I must leave," he muttered hurriedly, and Evie nodded her agreement. "I am going to disillusion myself to avoid another confrontation."

Tapping his wand against the top of his head, Severus felt the familiar coolness trickle down the back of his neck. As soon as he was disillusioned completely he hurried towards the door, only to find his way blocked by Black and Lupin. A quick glance at Evie's relaxed posture told him that she thought he had left the room. At least her nervousness wouldn't give his presence away; he would just have to wait as silently as possible until the way was clear. However, while Black hurried to Evie with an expression of almost sickening happiness on his face, Lupin remained firmly in place.

"Evie!" cried Sirius. "You're awake!" He grabbed a chair and pulled it to her bedside, where he took one of her hands and squeezed it gently with his own. Severus disliked the gesture; it was too intimate. But he knew little about intimacy between friends, and he assumed that Lupin would comment if it was in any way inappropriate.

"How are you feeling?" asked Remus from the doorway.

Evie pulled a face. "Not wonderful. But I suppose it could be worse."

"Dumbledore said that the weakness would only be temporary. You'll be on your feet again in a couple of days," he said encouragingly. "I'll leave you two on your own for a bit while I make you something to eat." Waving away her thanks, he left the room, shutting the door behind him. Severus cursed silently; now he would have to wait until the next time someone opened the door before he could leave.

"We were so worried about you," murmured Sirius. "I was so worried about you."

She squeezed his hand reassuringly. "It wasn't fun, but the worst is over. Just don't expect me to burst into spontaneous bouts of tap dancing any time soon."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter and shook his head. "I'm supposed to be the one trying to make you feel better," he protested. He began to lean in towards her, stopped suddenly and pulled back. "Are you well enough?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"I don't think it would hinder my recovery, do you?"

"I don't know." The corners of his lips twitched as he spoke. "An increased heart rate might be dangerous in your condition."

Evie gaped. "Don't flatter yourself!" Although she sounded outraged her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter, which died away quickly as Sirius took her face gently between his hands. He lowered his face until it was mere millimetres away from hers.

"Are you really telling me that I don't make your heart beat faster?" he purred seductively, his eyes smouldering.

"Well," she breathed against his lips. "Perhaps just a little bit."

Sirius's flashed a wolfish grin. "Good," he said, and eased his lips over hers carefully at first, as if really afraid of hurting her despite his teasing, and growing in intensity as the seconds passed.

Before he realised what he was doing, Severus's hand was reaching for his wand.


	40. Stunned

**Summary: **Sirius gets a headache, Snape narrowly avoids a slap and Evie needs some reassurance. Thanks for the reviews!

Something hot brushed past Evie, scorching her cheek. She uttered a sharp cry of shock and pain into Sirius's mouth, but he didn't move away. Instead the pressure of his lips increased, bearing down onto hers until it was almost painful. For a moment she forgot where she was, forgot that she was with a man who would never hurt her. She was back in the stone cellar and it was the Death Eater, not Sirius, who forced his lips onto hers. Panicking, she dug her heels into the mattress and pushed herself backwards until her shoulder blades hit the wall. The angry recrimination that she had been about to fling died in her throat as Sirius flopped face first onto the bed, his limbs limp.

"Sirius?" she said hesitantly, crawling towards him on hands and knees. He gave no sign of having heard her, and when she shook his shoulder lightly he didn't respond. She turned him over, grunting and trembling with the effort of physical exertion so soon after the potion had weakened her, until part of his body rested in his lap and his head was cradled in the crook of her arm. To her relief, Evie saw that his chest still rose and fell steadily although his eyes were shut and his mouth slightly agape. The panic was just beginning to abate when she felt something warm and wet trickle down her arm. A terrible apprehension in the pit of her stomach told her that it was blood, and a quick glance down confirmed it. "Sirius!" she cried. "Sirius, wake up!"

"I assure you that I have caused no lasting harm," said Snape, shimmering into view and shocking Evie into silence. He walked slowly towards them, watching Sirius with cold eyes and prodding one of his dangling feet with the toe of his boot. "I am afraid I was more forceful than I had intended to be."

"_You? _What have you done to him?" demanded Evie.

"He has merely been Stunned."

"He's bleeding!"

The corners of Snape's mouth curled into a cruel smile. "Really?" he said loftily. "I confess to amazement that a spell of mine could penetrate his thick skull."

Now trembling with anger rather than fatigue, Evie slipped out from beneath Sirius and groped for her wand on the bedside table. It was far easier to lift him onto the bed with the aid of magic, and soon she was leaning over him to inspect the cut in the back of his head. It was long and shallow, easy enough to fix temporarily while she confronted Snape although it would need proper cleaning and healing later. As soon as she had closed the cut she turned to face Snape, mildly surprised to see that he was still there. She wanted to rage at him and slap the cold, smug smile from his face, but she didn't want to disturb Sirius. "Professor," she said through gritted teeth. "May I have a word with you in the kitchen, please?"

He surprised her for a second time by agreeing. Evie hoped that Sirius wouldn't wake in her absence; she could imagine his confusion upon waking with a throbbing head to find that she had disappeared. It would be just like him to jump to the worst possible conclusion and assume that Death Eaters had somehow broken into Grimmauld Place, knocked him unconscious and kidnapped her. The walk downstairs passed in an uncomfortable silence. When they entered the kitchen Remus looked surprised to see Evie on her feet and accompanied by Snape, and this turned to blank shock as Evie turned and attempted to slap the potion master across his cheek. Snape, who had clearly been prepared for this, caught her wrist easily in a grip hard enough to bruise.

"Evie!" cried Remus.

"It's nothing he doesn't deserve," she snarled. "He's just knocked Sirius unconscious for no reason."

"I had a perfectly good reason," replied Snape in the same lofty voice he had used after Stunning Sirius. "Black has decided to pass the time by forcing himself onto vulnerable young girls."

"I am not a 'vulnerable young girl' and Sirius certainly wasn't forcing me to do anything!" spat Evie.

Snape ignored her. His eyes looked over her head, fixed on Remus's face. "You don't seem surprised by this, Remus," he commented lightly.

"I've known about it for some time."

"And yet you do nothing to prevent it?"

Remus frowned. "May I remind you that they are both adults? What they choose to do is their business."

"May I remind you that Evie is _eighteen years old," _Snape hissed, emotion entering his voice for the first time. "Far too young for Black and, whether she's of age or not, she is young enough to be manipulated by a far more experienced man twice her age."

"Sirius is _not _manipulating me!" said Evie, struggling to free her hand from his grasp.

Striding towards them, Remus gently pulled Evie's wrist from Snape's hand and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. "I can understand why this may be upsetting for you, Severus," he said calmly, "but Sirius cares very deeply for Evie. He certainly wouldn't do anything that might hurt her."

Snape looked from Remus's earnest eyes to Evie's furious face in disgust. He shook his head slowly. "If you think that his interest in her will last longer than it takes to leave this house, then you are as deluded as she is." Drawing himself up to his full height, he turned and made to leave. With his hand on the doorknob he glanced over his shoulder and said, "Professor Dumbledore will be hearing about this. Perhaps he can find you a more suitable home."

"In that case, Professor Dumbledore will also be hearing about how you snuck into my room in the middle of the night while I was sleeping."

Snape froze. He turned slowly to face Evie. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me," she said icily. "It was when I first came here. Someone was watching me while I slept, and when I woke up and screamed they ran. That was you. Don't bother denying it; I saw it in your memories during one of our lessons."

Snape's mouth compressed into a tight line of tension. Long moments passed in which he stared at Evie, and she met his gaze evenly. Then, without a word, he swept from the room. The moment they heard the front door bang shut Evie sagged in relief and Remus tightened his hold around her shoulders. "Are you alright?" he asked, leading her over to a chair and carefully lowering her onto it.

She buried her face in her hands to hide the tears that she couldn't quite prevent spilling onto her cheeks. "I'm fine, really. Just glad that's over."

"What happened?"

She recounted how Snape had come to visit her to apologise for his behaviour and discuss the reason for her decision to give up her power. How he had Disillusioned himself to avoid a confrontation and then had never left the room. How he had Stunned Sirius because he had kissed her. "He was so _smug,_" Evie finished, banging her fists on the table. "So happy that he had hurt Sirius."

Remus shook his head sadly. "They were always that way at school. Their hatred has never really cooled over the years." He glanced at the clock. "Listen, I still need to make you some dinner. After what you went through today you can't go to bed without eating anything. Food should be ready in a couple of hours; will Sirius be on his feet by then?"

"I'm sure I can patch him up by then," said Evie, rising and going to the cupboard where Molly had stored an ointment for every conceivable ailment during the summer. Finding one that she thought would do the job, she reassured Remus that she could take care of Sirius and left the kitchen. It was far more difficult to climb the stairs than she would ever admit to Remus or Sirius. Clearly adrenaline had sustained her through the confrontation with Snape, and now that she was calming down the events of the day were beginning to take their toll.

Thankfully Sirius was still unconscious when she reached the room, so he couldn't notice that she was red faced and short of breath. It was easy, almost relaxing work to clean away the flakes of dried blood that clung to his hair and apply soothing ointment to the affected area. Unfortunately this required little concentration, which allowed her to think about things she would rather not. To her disgust, some of Snape's words had stayed with her and were now beginning to take hold in her mind. She didn't believe, as Snape had argued, that Sirius was manipulating her for his own amusement, but she did wonder whether he would want her in the same way after his name had been cleared and he was a free man again. Would he still want her when he had a choice of more mature, experienced women?

By the time Evie had finished and cleaned her hands Sirius still showed no signs of waking, so she pointed her wand at him and muttered, "_Enervate!_" A moment of silence passed, and then Sirius groaned and opened his eyes, blinking up at the ceiling blearily. The look of confusion on his face as he took in his change of position was so comical that Evie couldn't help but giggle. "All that bragging about making my heart beat faster, and you were the one to faint when we kissed," she teased gently

"What happened?" he asked, sitting up and wincing. "How did I get down here and how did you get up there?"

Evie abruptly stopped laughing. "_Promise _me you won't do anything stupid."

Sirius looked at her warily. "Why?"

"Just promise me, _please._"

"Fine, I promise," he sighed. "Now what happened?"

"Well," she began hesitantly. "Professor Snape came to see me to ask why I had chosen to get rid of my power." At the mention of Snape's name Sirius's face darkened, so she hurried on. "After we talked he Disillusioned himself so he didn't get into a fight with you on his way out, only he never left. He saw us kissing and Stunned you and after that we got into a fight."

Sirius tried to stand up, but Evie placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back down onto the bed. "Where do you think you're going?" she demanded.

He looked at her incredulously. "Where do you think?"

"He left ages ago and you can't exactly apparate into Hogwarts, can you?"

"If you think…" Sirius began, only to trail off when he noticed Evie's wrist. Unfortunately she had chosen to restrain him with the hand that Snape had grabbed, and it bore evidence of rough treatment. She attempted to move away but Sirius held her in place. "Did he do this to you?" he asked quietly.

"I _was _trying to slap him," she said fairly.

"I'll kill him," growled Sirius. "I could have let Stunning me go, but not hurting you."

He was rising to his feet. Evie knew that if she didn't do something soon she would be powerless to stop him storming off to Hogwarts and risk getting thrown back into Azkaban. Mustering all of the strength she could into her tired arms, she once again pushed him down so that he was lying on the bed. Before he had a chance to recover she was straddling his waist and pinning his shoulders to the matters. "You _promised _me, Sirius Black," she said sternly. "You promised that you wouldn't do anything stupid."

"That was before I knew what had happened!"

"A promise is a promise," she insisted.

They stared at each other in silence, each refusing to be the first to drop their gaze. Finally Sirius relented, sighing and relaxing into the mattress. "Fine," he growled. "I won't go after him now, but that doesn't mean I won't be taking this up with him the moment he steps foot into this house." His face softened from anger into sadness as he looked up at her. "I would like to know what he said to upset you, though."

Evie frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Your eyes," he murmured, brushing his fingers against the top of her cheek. She realised that they must still be swollen from her bout of crying in the kitchen after Snape's departure.

She shifted uncomfortably in Sirius's lap. "I'm not sure if you'll like it," she mumbled.

"You can tell me."

Evie remained silent for a few moments, staring fixedly at Sirius's chest. He didn't push her to speak, merely rubbed gentle circles against her hips with his thumbs. Two things made her hesitate before confiding in him. Aside from her obvious embarrassment, what if Sirius confirmed her worry that he wouldn't want to be with her in the same way after he regained his freedom? Finally, she began. "Professor Snape said that you were just manipulating me for fun while you're stuck here." Feeling him stiffen, she hurriedly added, "I don't believe that, Sirius, I know you wouldn't hurt me like that. But what he said… it made me think of something that's been bothering me for a while now." She stole a quick glance at his face and found only curiosity and earnest concern. Looking away again she continued in a small voice, "Will you still want me after you've been cleared by the Ministry and have freedom again? I mean, in the way you want me now?"

"Evie," Sirius said gently. "Evie, look at me." When she kept her eyes fixed on the mattress, he slid a finger beneath her chin and forced her to look up. When she finally moved her eyes to his face she found that he was smiling, although his eyes were serious. "I told you at Christmas that I try not to think too much about the future, because when you're confined it hurts too much to think about the life you _could _be living. But I know two things that I want in my life with utter certainty: you and Harry. And I don't want you as a friend or anything else; I want you as I have you now. I want us to be a proper family with Harry. Even," he grimaced, "if that means accepting a few bruises off him when he finds out about us."


	41. Recovery

We're moving house soon so I won't have the internet for a while. Sorry! I'll update as soon as possible. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

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That night, Evie had nightmares for the first time since returning to Grimmauld Place after her ordeal with the Death Eater. In her dreams she was blind and stumbling through an alien territory, desperately trying to find her way to safety. She knew she was outside because sometimes freezing rain would pelt her skin until she was paralysed with the cold. At other times the temperature would sky rocket, leaving her throat dry with thirst and her skin cracked. Creatures with tiny, razor sharp teeth assaulted her constantly, causing her skin to break out into itchy, painful sores that wept.

She wasn't entirely without comfort in this wasteland. Occasionally voices would call her name and she would run to them, bringing herself closer to consciousness and home. Listening to the voices was always a bittersweet experience. One of them spoke to her so much like a daughter, with so much love and affection, that fresh grief at Aaron's death threatened to swamp her. Another promised that it would never frighten her again, never do anything reckless as long she woke up. The final voice was always welcome as it was accompanied by an alleviation in her discomfort.

When Evie finally woke up, it was to find two pairs of worried eyes staring at her. Sirius and Remus, both looking far more haggard and careworn than usual, sat by her bed surrounded by a startling array of empty potion bottles, blankets and unwashed bowls and cups. "What-?" Evie began, her voice cracking and rendering her incapable of speech. Sirius hurriedly poured her a glass of water from a full pitcher and helped her trembling fingers to grasp it. The icy water soothed the throbbing ache as it slipped down her throat. "What's going on?" she asked when she regained her voice. "Why are you two sitting here?"

"You have been very ill, Evie," said Remus gently.

She frowned. "I don't understand."

The two men exchanged concerned glances. "What's the last thing you remember?" asked Sirius.

Evie felt her cheeks heat up. The last thing she remembered was Sirius's hand coming to rest on her bare stomach as she drifted to sleep. Deciding that Remus wouldn't want to hear _exactly _what she remembered, she said, "Falling asleep."

"When?"

"Last night."

"What do you remember of the couple of hours before going to bed?"

For no reason that she could understand, her memories of the previous night were blurred. She could barely recall the smug look on the Professor's face as he towered over the unconscious Sirius, and the memory of his angry voice was do dim that it sounded as if it came to her from across a great distance. Perhaps it was the night of seemingly endless nightmares that dulled the sensations and emotions of the day before. "Professor Snape," she said slowly. "He Stunned Sirius and then we had a fight."

"Evie," said Remus in the same gentle tone that he had used when telling her that she had been ill. "That was two weeks ago."

Evie looked from one man to the other, trying to see the joke. When she met only serious expressions she said, "Two weeks? _Two weeks? _It can't have been! Why don't I remember anything about the past fortnight?"

"You have been ill," repeated Remus while Sirius took her hand and gently squeezed it. "It was the potion that caused it. Dumbledore warned us to expect some side effects, some minor illness over the following days, but nothing like what happened. We expect that your confrontation with Severus and exerting yourself when you should have been resting exacerbated the side effects."

"Well what was I supposed to do?" said Evie defensively. "Watch him Stun Sirius then turn over and go to sleep?"

"We're not blaming _you_. It's Snape's fault; he knew how damaging the potion could be and that you didn't need any added stress. I'll be having a word with him at the next Order meeting," growled Sirius.

"Do you remember anything about the last couple of weeks?" asked Remus, glaring warningly at Sirius.

She shook her head. "No. Well, I remember dreams. Nightmares."

"There were periods when you seemed almost lucid," explained Remus. "You called our names."

"I heard voices calling my name in the dreams. Perhaps I was trying to answer."

Evie struggled to understand what they were telling her. Had she really been unconscious for two weeks? She swung her legs over the bed and stood up, but a wave of dizziness sent her falling to the floor. Sirius caught her before she hit the ground. "On no you don't," he said sternly. "You're not going anywhere for a while yet."

* * *

For the next few days Evie was confined to bed. Every time she set foot on the cold floor her trembling legs gave way and dumped her back onto the mattress. Her friends at Hogwarts, who had somehow found out about her illness, kept her entertained with a constant stream of letters and small gifts. Because of the harsh restrictions currently in force at the school the letters were no more than polite notes that wished her a fast recovery, but her friends found ways of communicating that they were thinking and worrying about her. Hermione's letters were always accompanied by a passage copied from a particularly interesting text from the library. Ginny and the twins preferred to scavenge unwanted objects from Hogwarts' classrooms or send small packages of sweets. One of Harry's letters arrived with a white feather that had clearly once belonged to Hedwig.

Sirius and Remus were her constant companions, often amusing her with stories of their own days at Hogwarts. She learned much about her parents – particularly her father's various wrongdoings – during this time. Molly Weasley arrived twice a day, bringing with her food and healing potions, and ordered the men out of the room while she fussed over Evie. It was wonderful to be able to speak to Molly when she wasn't worrying about cooking food for a dozen people or waging war against a house that had developed a life of its own over the past ten years. Molly urged her to leave Grimmauld Place for the safer, more welcoming haven of The Burrow but Evie, although deeply touched that Molly cared, refused.

The fourth day after she woke up, Remus left the house on one of his secret tasks and Molly too was occupied with work for the Order. Remembering Sirius's disastrous attempt to bake her a birthday cake, Evie decided that she had to get out of bed or risk food poisoning. It took her five times longer than usual to descend the steeps stairs and she was shaking with the effort by the time she reached the bottom, but thrilled with her achievement. Every day after that, ignoring Sirius's protests that she needed to rest, she climbed up and down the stairs until she could do it almost as quickly as she had before taking the potion.

The beginning of February found her sitting in the attic garden, having just climbed from the bottom of the house to the top. She was breathless and flushed but her legs hadn't trembled throughout her journey. She had heard the door open and shut – Remus returning - a couple of minutes before, and was trying to get her breath back before attempting the return trip downstairs. But before she could even contemplate moving from her seat on the grass, footsteps on the ladder leading to the attic caught her attention. Guessing that Remus had decided to come to her, she turned and was surprised to see a shock of pink hair appearing through the hatch in the floor.

It took Evie a moment to recognise the grinning young woman clambering into the attic, having only seen her at noisy dinnertimes or hurrying into Order meetings. But both Hermione and Ginny adored her and Molly, although exasperated with her tendency to knock over anything that wasn't bolted to the floor and trip over anything that was, liked her well enough.

"Hello," said Evie hesitantly. "You're Tonks, right?"

"Right," Tonks grinned. "And you're Evie. I've wanted to talk to you for ages, but with working for the Ministry and the Order I barely even have time to sleep."

"I think Remus and Sirius are downstairs if you want to speak to them."

"Actually, I'm here to see you."

Evie blinked stupidly at her. "Me?"

"You," said Tonks, chuckling. "But we don't have much time. Remus can't keep my dear cousin distracted for long."

"Your cousin?" Evie asked, and then flushed. She had been looking forward to getting to know Tonks if she was ever given the chance, and so far all she had done was ask stupid questions.

"Sirius," explained Tonks.

"Right. And why does he need to be distracted?"

"I'm afraid this isn't a social visit. Although I would love to talk to you about something other than the Order," she hurriedly added. "I have a proposition for you and Sirius might not be too fond of the idea. Remus is trying to talk him round now." She paused for a moment then said, "Remus tells me you work for _Witch Weekly_."

Evie grimaced. Tonks had hit a sore spot. With meeting her brother and adjusting to life in England, Evie had had little time to write for the magazine. They had sent a curt letter, which Mae had forwarded to Grimmauld Place, reminding her that she had missed several deadlines. She assumed that by now they had sent a letter telling her that they no longer required her services, but there was no Mae to redirect the owl. "I used to," she muttered.

Tonks's grin widened. "We – that is, the Order – would like to make use of your skills."

Evie paused, waiting for Tonks to explain. When she didn't Evie said, "I don't understand."

"You must have read _The Daily Prophet, _seen the kind of rubbish they're writing about Harry and Dumbledore. We need something to combat it, to tell the truth about what's happening. That's where you come in."

Evie snorted. "What makes you think anyone would publish that? They won't want to go against the Ministry or Fudge."

"Well, obviously we won't be able to distribute in the traditional way," said Tonks, shrugging. "We'd have to leave whatever you write in public places like Diagon Alley, or even the Ministry if we could smuggle it in. So what do you think?"

Evie hesitated for a long time before answering, regarding Tonks carefully. "Do you really think it would help?" she asked.

"There's no guarantee that anyone would believe us," said Tonks quietly. "Most people won't. But if we can change one person's mind it would be worth it."

It wasn't a decision that Evie had to think about. If she had a chance to help the Order and the people she loved, she would take it. "I'll do it," she said firmly."

"Excellent! We'll have to swear you into the Order, and-"

Heavy footsteps interrupted Tonks before she could finish. Sirius burst into the attic, followed by a sheepish Remus. "No," growled Sirius, glaring at Tonks. "It's not going to happen!"

"It's not your choice," said Tonks calmly. "Besides, you were ready to swear Harry into the Order and he's three years younger."

"Harry can take care of himself! She'd come off worse in a duel with a dead toad!"

Evie let out a cry of outrage and flicked her wand at a rock, which turned into a snarling tiger.

"I'm not saying you're not a competent witch," said Sirius, exasperated. "But you know as well as I do that you can't duel."

"It's not like I'm going to battle Death Eaters! I'm just going to write a few leaflets."

"Joining the Order makes you a target!"

"I'm already a target," she reminded him gently. "If it makes you feel better we can start our defence lessons again, but I'm going to do this." She turned to Tonks, who was beaming at her. "Where do I sign up?"


	42. Face to Face

**Note: **Hopefully I'll be moving house soon (we've applied for a place but I'm not sure if we've got it yet) which means no net or updates for around three weeks sometime in the near future. The next chapter is an important one. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

* * *

Evie nibbled anxiously on the end of her quill as Tonks pored over the piece of parchment. It looked to be a hundred years old, torn and creased and covered in various different stains. In fact, the cramped writing that it contained was a little over two days old. In the month since Evie had agreed to write for the Order, she had drafted more than a dozen versions of the leaflet that explained the true reason behind the mysterious deaths and disappearances in the country. This was the final draft, the version that would be deposited in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade to be read by hundreds – perhaps even thousands – of witches and wizards. Evie was officially the voice of the Order, the bearer of the truth that could vindicate Harry and Dumbledore. She was terrified.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked as Tonks lowered the parchment. She knew that Dumbledore's or Kingsley's opinion would matter most to the Order, but she was far more concerned with what Tonks thought. It had been Tonks's idea to offer her the job, and Tonks was the one who had placed a lot of faith in her. Evie didn't want to disappoint her.

"It's fantastic!" she said, smiling, and Evie felt herself relax. "It's just the kind of thing I was looking for. Most people seem to think that Harry and Dumbledore are lunatics, so the last thing we need to do is rant and rave. This is cool and factual – perfect!" She grinned again, and this time Evie was able to return it with a shaky smile of her own.

"You're showing this to everyone at the meeting?" she asked.

Tonks nodded. "We've got a full house tonight. Everyone who isn't on duty is going to be here. Even Snape's agreed to come, and he's been avoiding meetings like the plague for the past few weeks."

She went on to say how she was looking forward to eating one of Molly's delicious meals rather than the rubbish Sirius usually fed them, and so she didn't notice the colour drain from Evie's face. She knew exactly why Snape had been avoiding the meetings, and she was glad of it. Although Sirius hadn't rushed off to Hogwarts to confront Snape, he had made it clear that he wouldn't forgive Snape for Stunning him while his back was turned and for hurting her. It had been almost two months since that night, but Evie wasn't foolish enough to believe that Sirius couldn't hold a grudge for much longer than that. Telling herself that she could break apart a fight if it came to that, she forced herself to focus on the conversation.

"– can't understand why you won't come," said Tonks. "You should really be in the meeting tonight. You've done all the hard work; you should be there to take the credit."

"I've told you already, I'm happy to be a member of the Order and work for Dumbledore, but I can't attend the meetings. If I do, I'll hear things about Harry that I know he'd want to know. I can't keep secrets from him." _I'm keeping enough from him already, _she added silently.

Tonks glanced around the room as if checking for hidden spies. She beckoned Evie to come closer, and then said in a conspiratorial whisper, "Is this about Sirius?"

Evie jumped, startled by the question. Tonks couldn't possibly mean what Evie thought she did. How could she have found out? "What do you mean?" she asked calmly.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "You _know _what I mean. The relationship that you're trying and failing miserably to keep secret."

"How do you know about that?" Evie demanded incredulously.

"Remus," she said, lowering her eyes guiltily to the floor. "Please don't be angry with him. I dragged it out of him."

"I'm not angry," said Evie, and it was true. Secretly she was glad that Tonks knew. They had become friends over the past month and it hurt to keep such an important part of her life from someone she shared a growing closeness with. Besides which, she and Sirius would no longer have to pretend that their relationship was entirely platonic whenever Tonks was at Grimmauld Place. "I just wish he'd told me he was going to tell you."

"Like I said, I dragged it out of him," said Tonks, shrugging. She paused for a moment, biting her lower lip anxiously. "You're going to hate me for asking, but I have to be sure. You are happy, aren't you? Sirius isn't… forcing you into anything?"

Evie's eyes widened. "No! Of course not! How could you even think-?"

"I don't, not really," interrupted Tonks. "Sirius wouldn't hurt you like that, and even if he was prepared to Remus wouldn't stand by and let it happen. They might be old friends, but Remus loves you like a sister."

A warm glow spread across Evie's cheeks. "Really?"

"Really." Although Tonks smiled, her usual warmth didn't sparkle in her eyes. "You and Sirius are his family."

Evie was fairly certain of the cause of Tonks's sad smile. It was almost impossible to miss the affectionate glances she threw at Remus, and the way she worried as much as Evie whenever he was sent away on dangerous work for the Order. It was clear to everyone but Tonks that Remus returned her feelings, but it wasn't Evie's place to interfere. She knew Remus was certain that he couldn't give Tonks the life she deserved, and convincing him otherwise was proving difficult.

Deciding that she needed to change the subject before she said something that Remus wouldn't appreciate, Evie said, "Can I ask a favour?"

"After this," she pointed at the parchment, "I'll do anything."

"I'm worried about the meeting tonight…" Evie explained how Professor Snape had witnessed Sirius kissing her and that his violent reaction had left her with a circle of bruises around her wrist and Sirius unconscious. "I managed to convince Sirius not to storm off to Hogwarts, but he told me that he wouldn't make any promises about what he'd do the next time he saw Snape. Tonight will be the first time they've seen each other since then, and -"

"You're worried there's going to be a full blown duel in the kitchen," Tonks finished.

"Right. I'm not asking you to throw yourself in front of Snape's wand, but I'd like you to keep Sirius calm if you can."

"Not a problem. It's the least I can do."

"What's the least you can do?"

The kitchen door opened to admit Sirius and Remus. The latter's face was pale and drawn, the dark circles under his eyes very pronounced against his pallid skin. This was the first time Evie had seen him since he had returned from his mission the previous day, and so she jumped from her seat to embrace him. She was shocked by how thin he was beneath his jumper. Over Remus's shoulder she glimpsed Sirius's fleeting, envious glare. He wasn't jealous of Remus, but of how freely he could express his affection for Evie. She could also feel Tonks's gaze burning into her back, and so, gently scolding him for not taking better care of himself, she tugged Remus over to the oven to cut him a slice of pie.

Sirius took a seat opposite Tonks. "So, what's the least you can do?"

"Never mind that, I have a bone to pick with you."

"There's something new. What I have I done this time, dear Nymphadora?"

Evie could practically hear the grimace in Tonks's voice when she said, "Don't call me that! I want to talk to you about how you're treating Evie. Those defence lessons are exhausting your poor girlfriend."

"Evie has to learn that if she can't fight me, she won't stand a chance against a - Wait! My poor _what?_"

* * *

By the time the meeting was almost over Sirius was forced to admit that inducting Evie into the Order had been a good idea. He was willing to wager all the gold in his Gringotts account that at least a percentage of the people who read her leaflet would believe its message. She wrote her argument with a passion that sprang from her love of Harry and a fierce desire to expose the monsters who had murdered her parents and her aunt and uncle. Although he still hated the idea of Evie placing herself in even more danger, he knew he could no longer try to prevent her from working for the Order. He knew how hard it was to stay hidden while the people he loved suffered, and he wouldn't force that awful inactivity on her.

To his left Tonks toyed idly with her fork, pushing a tiny morsel of chicken around her plate. She had been close to his side all night, which had puzzled him at first. Tonks usually liked to catch up with Molly or trade friendly insults with Mad-Eye. It was only when she stiffened and darted him a searching look when Snape walked into the room that he realised Evie must have told her what had happened during Snape's last visit. Had Evie asked her to keep an eye on him, or had Tonks taken it upon herself to do so? Neither of them had cause to worry. Sirius wasn't stupid enough to attack Snape in front of Dumbledore, particularly when doing so would probably mean having to reveal his relationship with Evie to the entire Order. As long as Snape remained inoffensive, Sirius wouldn't cause any trouble.

But Sirius should have realised that expecting Snape to remain inoffensive for any length of time was asking for a miracle. Towards the end of the meeting, when everyone had pushed aside their plates and sat back in their chairs, the professor rose to his feet and cleared his throat for attention.

"Yes, Severus?" said Dumbledore politely. "Do you have something to say?"

Snape nodded. "Indeed. Now that we have accepted Evie into the Order and she will be working for us regularly, perhaps it is time to consider," his eyes came to rest on Sirius briefly before moving away, "moving her to a different home."

"Now wait a minute, Severus," said Remus softly, cutting off Sirius's protests before they could begin. "Evie is happy here, and I can't imagine anywhere safer."

"I am merely suggesting that she would benefit from spending some time in a less… oppressive atmosphere, with people of her own age." Again his eyes lingered on Sirius. "Hogwarts, perhaps, or, if Arthur and Molly are agreeable, The Burrow."

"I invited Evie to stay with us and she said she wanted to stay here," said Molly.

"Besides which, The Burrow has none of the protective enchantments that surround Grimmauld Place," added Kingsley. "I don't believe the Ministry has better defences."

"Then move her to Hogwarts," insisted Snape. "She will be close to Dumbledore to receive any orders and she will be able to spend more time with Harry."

Sirius had to choke back a snort of disbelief. The idea that Snape would willingly do anything that would benefit Harry was laughable.

"I am afraid that is out of the question, Severus," said Dumbledore. "I would love Evie and Harry to get to know each other, but that will have to wait until the summer. Hogwarts is not safe for Evie as long as Dolores Umbridge is there."

Snape's cheeks had flushed to a furious shade of red. "Fine. If you refuse to acknowledge the danger Evie is in here-"

"Severus!" said Dumbledore sharply.

"Danger?" asked Molly, looking from face to face for an answer. "What danger is she in here?"

"Leave it Molly," murmured Tonks. "She's safe."

Snape glared at Dumbledore, who gazed steadily back. "You are blind," Snape spat eventually, and stormed out of the kitchen.

Sirius was out of his seat and in the hallway before Tonks could stop him. Snape had already left Grimmauld Place, but that didn't deter Sirius. He had to be punished for hurting Evie and trying to take her away. A hand landed on his shoulder as he took his first step out of the house. He spun around, ready to tell Tonks that this wasn't any of her concern, and found himself staring down at Evie.

"Don't," she begged softly. "Don't fight."

"But he-"

"I don't care what he's done. Just don't fight."

Sirius looked at the place where Snape had disaparated, and then at Evie's pleading eye. He let out a groan of annoyance. "Fine," he growled, stepping back inside the house and firmly shutting the door.


	43. A Suspicion

A wave of nausea made Evie groan. She rolled away from Sirius and clapped a hand over her mouth, trying not to wake him. She had been ill intermittently since taking Snape's potion in January, but over the last few days her sickness had been more frequent and intense. Yesterday she had woken Sirius by scrambling over him in a mad dash to reach the bathroom. She had no intention of disturbing him again this morning, but he unconsciously pursued her across the bed and wrapped an arm around her abdomen. The pressure on her tender stomach was intolerable. Moving as quietly and slowly as she could, she gently extricated herself from his grasp. It was going well until a strip of exposed skin at the base of her back pressed against the cold wall and she uttered a yelp of shock.

"Evie?" Sirius's voice was thick with sleep. He struggled to sit up, and in the dim grey light of early morning Evie could just discern his frown. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she lied. "Just feeling a little sick."

He was worried now, moving towards her to softly rub her stomach with his calloused palm. "Again? This is the third time this week. Perhaps we should take you to a Healer."

"Really, it's not necessary. All I need is some fresh air."

"Want me to come with you?"

"No," she said firmly, kissing him briefly before slipping from the bed. "You go back to sleep. Save your strength for making me breakfast in a couple of hours."

"Excellent! A Full English is just what you need, and it's my specialty."

The thought of a greasy breakfast made her stomach lurch. She burst into the corridor and leaned heavily against the wall. Sliding to the floor, she told herself that she would _not_ be sick again. Her chest was already sore from heaving the day before, and her empty stomach would clench painfully if she couldn't control her urge to vomit. She focussed on a tiny crack in the window at the end of the hallway, forcing herself to ignore the twisting of her stomach and taking calming gulps of the cool, crisp air. Slowly the nausea receded.

As Evie crouched on the floor, waging battle against her own body, a thought came to her. It was elusive, lingering on the edge of her awareness. If she hadn't been completely focussed on controlling her nausea, the thought probably would have taken days or even weeks to clarify itself. But her mind was devoid of anything but the painful rolling of her stomach, and the new idea hit her with the force of an Auror's curse.

Perhaps this illness wasn't a side effect of the potion. Perhaps it was something entirely different.

She rose slowly to her feet, scared that her shaking legs would spill her to the floor if she trusted too much weight to them at once. Instead of returning to the room where Sirius was now snoring lightly, she stumbled to Remus's bedroom. Her realisation had left her mind reeling, but it also numbed the pain in her abdomen enough for her to travel. She tapped on his door lightly and waited for answer.

Remus was already dressed when he came to the door. He took one look at Evie and ushered her inside, ordering her to sit on the bed. "What's the matter?" he asked, kneeling in front of her. "You look awfully pale."

"Ill again," she grunted. "Is Tonks due here today?"

He frowned. "Tonks? Evie, if you're ill then you need to see Molly or Severus."

"Never mind that, what about Tonks?"

For a moment he looked as if he would argue but, seeing the determined set of Evie's jaw, he relented and said, "As far as I know she's not coming today."

Evie's heart sank. She certainly couldn't discuss her suspicions with Remus and Sirius until she knew they were true, and Tonks was the only close friend she had outside of Grimmauld Place. "Is there any way I can get in touch with her?"

"Why?"

She hesitated before saying, "I can't tell you. Please believe me when I say it's important. I wouldn't bother her for something that could wait."

"If it's important…

"It really is. Please, Remus. I need to talk to her."

Remus stared at her for a long moment, puzzlement in his eyes. "Alright," he said eventually. "But _I _will contact Tonks and ask her to come by after work tonight. You look like you need to go back to bed before you faint. Don't even think of getting up for at least another couple of hours."

Evie nodded meekly, unwilling to argue even though she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep. She left Remus's room but instead of returning straight to her bedroom she first stopped at the bathroom. There she lifted up her shirt and stared at her stomach in the mirror. There was no tell tale curve beneath her ribs, nothing at all to suggest that something might be growing inside her.

The hours crawled by slowly. Thankfully neither Remus nor Sirius seemed to expect much from Evie because of her illness of the morning. They were content to let her slump on the sofa with a pile of books and a blanket, interrupting her only to try and coax her into eating something. She accepted some toast but it was like a lump of cardboard in her mouth. Evie prowled the living room restlessly or lay curled in an armchair, unable to focus on any one task.

Tonks arrived in the evening, announcing herself in her usual way of knocking over the umbrella stand and setting up Mrs Black's ear shattering shriek. Then came Sirius's vicious snarl, a large bang and a stream of apologies from Tonks.

"It's fine, Tonks," said Sirius. "We're used to it by now."

"I can never seem to remember where that thing is."

"We're thinking about nailing it to the floor," he teased. The sound of his chuckling receded down the corridor as he returned to the kitchen.

The door opened and Tonks slipped inside. Although she was wearing her usual smile, she was pale and her usually vibrant hair was dull blonde. She was clearly exhausted. Evie felt a pang of guilt, but she knew there was no one else who she could have talked to.

Tonks collapsed into a chair and yawned widely. "What a day!" she groaned. "I thought it would never end."

"Trouble at work?"

"To say the least. Fudge is really trying to flush out Order members. It's been a nightmare trying to keep up with my duties without arousing suspicion. But never mind that." She waved her hand as if brushing the subject away. "Remus said you wanted to see me."

"Yes." Evie hesitated. She knew she needed to tell Tonks of her suspicions, but she was afraid to. It was as though speaking the words that she had only thought before would make the situation real. But saying nothing wouldn't diminish her fears or make the problem go away. She listened carefully, making sure that neither Sirius nor Remus was in the hallway. When she was certain that she and Tonks were alone, she said, "I… Maybe… I might…" She sighed and paused, taking a moment to collect herself. Then she forced the words out. "I think I might be pregnant."

Tonks blinked at her in astonished silenced. "What?" she asked after a long moment.

Evie squirmed. "Don't make me say it again, Tonks."

"How did this happen?" She shook her head quickly and held up her hand. "Wait, don't tell me. I know how. Have you told Sirius?"

"No. I don't want to tell him until I know one way or another." She looked at Tonks pleadingly. "Please help me. I have no idea how to find out if I am. I know there must be a spell or potion, but I don't know about it."

Tonks sat back in the chair, thinking. "There's a potion," she said slowly. "It's the quickest and easiest way. If you are pregnant, there will be a sort of flare of light after you drink it. If you're not, no flare."

"Where can I get this potion?"

"When do you want it?"

"Now."

"_Now?_"

"I can't wait any longer," said Evie desperately. "I've been going crazy all day."

"You won't be able to buy it at this time of day. Everywhere is shut. Madam Pomfrey, that's the Healer at Hogwarts," Tonks explained, seeing Evie's confused expression, "used to keep a small amount in stock for the older girls. But that awful Umbridge woman made her get rid of them because she thought it encouraged promiscuity."

Evie groaned. "So there's none left at Hogwarts."

Tonks hesitated. "Well… There are some. A few were hidden away for emergencies."

"Good," sighed Evie in relief. "We can-"

"But," interrupted Tonks, "Severus is the one hiding them."

"Professor Snape?" Evie whispered. If she was pregnant, he was the last person she wanted to know. He would probably storm into Grimmauld Place and start a duel with Sirius. Or, and she went cold at the thought, try to cause trouble by telling someone like Molly or Harry. But what other choice did she have? The thought of waiting at least another twelve hours until the shops in Diagon Alley opened was almost unbearable. Trying to obtain the potion from the hospital was also out of the question. They would want to know things like her name, and she knew that if she gave the name "Evie Potter" she would be headline news the following morning.

"It's your decision, Evie," said Tonks. "If you want to know now then we can go to Severus. If you don't want to tell him about this then we can go to Diagon Alley tomorrow. I'll come with you either way."

"Thank you," said Evie gratefully. "But I can't wait. We'll go to the professor."

"Alright." Tonks nodded. "I'll tell Remus and Sirius that we're having a girlie talk and we're not to be disturbed under any circumstances. That should buy us enough time to get to Hogwarts and back. We can't Apparate directly into the building, so we'll have to Apparate to the gates and Severus will let us in." She rose to her feet. "I'll send him a Patronus to let him know that we're coming and why. You get ready to leave."

Tonks hurried out of the room and Evie struggled to her feet. She tried not to think about what she was about to do as she pulled on her shoes with shaking fingers. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but wonder whether Snape had received Tonks's message yet. The thought of the fury that awaited her at Hogwarts made her shiver.

She had just finished fastening her cloak when Tonks returned. A streak of silver glided past her through the door. It was a beautiful silver Patronus in the form of a doe. "Enchantments lifted in dungeon," it said in Snape's voice. "Apparate now." Having delivered its' message, it dispersed into the air.

Tonks frowned and murmured, "That's risky."

"What is?"

"Severus has lifted the enchantments that prevent Apparition in his classroom. That means we can get in, but so can anyone else. And it'll be hard to explain to Umbridge if she finds out." She beckoned Evie over to the door. "We better leave now. But be quiet; they don't know we're leaving the house."

Evie tiptoed after Tonks into the corridor. Thankfully she had learned where most of the creaky floorboards were, and was able to help Tonks avoid them with whispered directions. The slightest sound from the kitchen made her heart pound and her breath come quickly. She dreaded being discovered because she could give no good excuse for leaving the house. She would have to tell the truth.

After what seemed like an hour, they reached the front door and opened it slowly. They slipped out into the night, closing the door soundlessly behind them. Tonks grasped Evie's arm firmly. "Ready?" she asked.

"No," said Evie. "But we need to go anyway."

Tonks flashed her a grin and then turned on the spot. Evie felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed by a giant hand. Since arriving at Grimmauld Place she hadn't had much reason to Apparate, and that, combined with her current nausea, left her feeling queasy. She was grateful when the world resolved itself into a dank dungeon, although her relief was short lived when she remembered that she now had to face Professor Snape.

Evie couldn't see the Professor at first. Then he hurried out of the shadows, brandishing his wand and muttering under his breath. She felt a thrill of fear before he turned away and she realised he must be putting the enchantments that prevented Apparition back in place. She waited anxiously for him to finished, but when he finally faced them it was Tonks he addressed.

"Nymphadora," he said quietly. "Inform the headmaster that the enchantments are in place. He will want to know."

Tonks looked uncertainly at Evie. "I think I should stay."

"It's alright, Tonks. I'll be fine," said Evie, although the last thing she wanted was to be left alone with Snape.

"If you're sure," said Tonks, scrutinising her.

"Go," she said firmly. Tonks nodded, squeezing her arm reassuringly before leaving the dungeon.

Reluctantly, Evie turned her gaze to Snape. His face showed no emotion but his dark eyes sparked with fury. In his hand he held a bottle filled with a silver potion that glowed faintly. He offered it to Evie. Taken aback, she reached for it. She'd had no idea that it would be this easy. She had thought he would rant and rave before agreeing to help her. However, he pulled back as her fingers brushed the bottle.

"Wait," he ordered. "There is something I need to say first."

Evie groaned inwardly but said nothing. She would have to put up with whatever the Professor said or risk being denied the potion.

"You know how I feel about Black," he said, his voice quiet and dangerous. "I despise him. I despise his arrogance and his petty cruelty, and I despise him tenfold for how he has used you. Make no mistake that I will be having strong words with him about this. However, this is the last time you will ever hear me say this." He paused, clearly weighing up a decision, before saying, "I see so much of your mother in you. I was friends with Lily when we were at school. More than friends, really. If certain circumstances hadn't caused a rift in our friendship, perhaps you would have been my daughter instead of James's."

"Professor…" began Evie, only to find that she didn't know how to finish the sentence. His words about Sirius had sparked the usual anger, but now there was something unfamiliar in his face. His eyes had softened, showing a tender and almost vulnerable quality, when he spoke of her mother.

"Both your parents and the people who raised you have been taken from you," he continued. "The man appointed to care for you in your parents' absence has taken advantage of you. I know you are of age, I know you no longer require a guardian, but I can't help but feel responsible for you. Whatever happens when you take this potion," he shook the bottle lightly, "I will care for you. If the results are positive, I will be here if you need help in deciding whether to go through with the pregnancy. I will take care of your health whatever you choose. If the results are negative then I still wish to care for you in whatever way I can. I will treat you, in every respect, as I would my own daughter."

Evie found herself blinking back tears. This was the man who had Stunned Sirius, who had claimed that he was only using her to alleviate his boredom while he was trapped in Grimmauld Place. She still feared that the first thing he would do after giving her the potion was curse Sirius. Yet he had helped her before, taught her control of the deadly power and created the potion that stripped that power when she could no longer stand it. There had been no sign in his face or voice that he was lying. His expression showed sincerity and also fear. Of what? That she would reject him, laugh at him? She wouldn't. It was wonderful to know with utter certainty, as she had with Mae and Aaron, that someone would care for her.

Quickly, before she could change her mind, she stepped towards Snape and caught him in a hug. He stiffened and almost dropped the potion in surprise, but returned the gesture. The embrace was brief and uncomfortable. When Evie stepped back, however, the Professor wore a small smile. He uncorked the bottle and handed it to her. She raised it to her lips and hesitated, all her fear of a few minutes before flooding back.

"Remember," said Snape, "whatever happens I'll help you."

Evie smiled. "Thank you."

She brought the bottle to her mouth and swallowed the contents in one gulp.


	44. Sanctuary

**Sorry! **I fully intended to update on Friday night. To cut a long story very short, my fiancé's dad was taken into hospital on Friday and I had to travel the hundred miles to go and see him. I was there over the weekend with no internet access. So here's the chapter, hope it's worth the wait! Thank you to all the lovely people who reviewed.

* * *

Tears dribbled down Evie's cheeks and she swiped at them angrily, ashamed to cry in front of Tonks and the professor. Tonks tightened her grip around Evie's shoulders and murmured soothingly. The words made little sense, but Evie, touched by her friend's efforts to comfort her, returned the hug and mumbled her thanks. Professor Snape stood a few feet away, clearly torn between his desire to comfort her and his obvious uneasiness with physical contact.

"What am I going to do?" whispered Evie.

"You have three options," said Snape, looking relieved that he could do something useful. "If you continue with the pregnancy, you could choose to raise the child yourself or find it a home with adoptive parents. If you do not wish to carry the baby then that, too, is an option. The choice is yours. Although," his face twisted with distaste, "you should probably consult with Bl – With the father."

The thought of having to tell Sirius that she was pregnant was almost enough to make Evie sick. A baby would cause so many problems for him. They would no longer be able to conceal their relationship from Harry. How would he react when he discovered that not only were they in a romantic relationship, but they had conceived a child together? Would he feel pushed away, isolated by the secret they had kept from him? Or would he be so furious and upset that he would no longer want anything to do with them?

Once the truth about Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew came out, as it inevitably would, Sirius would truly have his freedom for the first time in more than ten years. He had been a very young man, barely an adult, when they locked him away. He would want to do all the things he had never had the chance to do. How could he do that with a baby to look after? He claimed that he wanted to be a family with Evie and Harry, but she doubted that he would feel the same after months of sleepless nights and dirty nappies. It would end with him resenting her.

"You don't have to make a decision now, Evie," said Tonks. "You have weeks to decide. But you _need _to tell Sirius."

She wrapped her arms around herself. "I can't tell him tonight. I can barely wrap my own mind around the idea."

"You'll have to tell him something. He's going to know something is wrong if you keep crying."

"I hadn't even thought about that," said Evie, pressing her knuckles against her closed eyes.

"Well," said Tonks hesitantly, "you could stay at my house tonight. I'll have to think of a very good excuse, but I'm sure we could come up with something."

"Thank you!" sighed Evie. The thought of not having to return to Grimmauld Place tonight lifted a huge weight off her shoulders. "I know I'm being a pain."

"You're not," said Tonks firmly. "We're friends; we're supposed to look after each other. I'll take you home first and go to headquarters alone. One look at you and Sirius will know something's up."

Evie nodded and turned to Snape. "Thank you. For your help and for earlier."

"You're welcome," he said gravely. "Remember what I said: I will care for your health and wellbeing whatever your decision. I also warn you now that I will be reminding Black of his responsibilities."

"Not until I've spoken to him first. This news should come from me."

"Very well. I shall wait until you have told him."

"Could we use your fireplace, Severus?" asked Tonks. "It'd be easier to Floo than to lift all of the enchantments again."

Snape agreed and beckoned them to follow him. He led them through the dungeon into a room that was clearly his office. The walls were lined with bookcases that were crammed with old, leather bound tomes. The large, immaculately tidy desk was covered with burns and stains, presumably from fifteen years of experiments with potions. It should have been a cold, eerie place but the many candles gave the room a welcoming glow.

The Professor flicked his wand at the large fireplace and a fire immediately sprang into life. He took a bulging leather sack from his desk and quickly removed the string that held it shut. "You will have to move quickly." He held the sack out to Evie and Tonks and they each took a pinch of floo power. "Umbridge is monitoring every fireplace in the school. I can make it appear that you have travelled to the headmaster's fireplace rather than to one outside of the school. It won't hold up to much inspection, but it isn't as risky as removing the enchantments that prevent Apparition again."

Tonks frowned in confusion. "Can she detect the enchantments being removed?"

"Not unless she is specifically looking for it, which is highly unlikely. But it leaves the school vulnerable to attack. Are you ready?" He moved closer to the fireplace, ready with his wand.

"Yes," said Tonks, and then to Evie, "Follow my lead."

She nodded at Snape, and he performed a complicated, wordless gesture with his wand. Tonks threw the powder into the fire and stepped quickly into the now emerald flames. "Willow Hill!" she cried, and disappeared in a whirl of fire.

As soon as the flames returned to their normal colour, Evie threw her pinch of floo powder in and hurried into the fireplace. She echoed Tonks's words, hoping that she had heard them right, and closed her eyes. She had hoped to keep the habitual dizziness that came with Flooing away, but although she could not see the world spinning and blurring around her she could certainly feel it. It was a relief when she came to a shuddering halt and spilled out of a much smaller fireplace onto the floor.

Forcing her eyes open, Evie got her first glimpse of Tonks's house. It was as opposite from Grimmauld Place as two houses could possibly be. Posters of bands and quidditch teams fought for space on the wall. There were some muggle posters, their frozen images instantly noticeable amongst the jostling witches and wizards. It wasn't exactly messy, but everything seemed slightly out of place. A small pile of books was being used as a table for mugs, and a robe in a shocking shade of pink seemed to have become a bed for a tough looking black cat.

Tonks helped Evie to her feet, brushing the soot from her shoulders and hair. "Sorry about the mess," she said self consciously. "I haven't had time to tidy up with everything going on at the Ministry."

"Don't be silly, this place is wonderful."

"Thanks!" Tonks beamed. Her smile faded slightly as she said, "I have to get back to Grimmauld Place before they realise we're not there. Make yourself comfortable while I'm gone, and don't let Rover boss you about."

"Rover?"

"My cat."

Despite herself, Evie's lips twitched. Only Tonks would think that "Rover" was an appropriate name for a cat.

"Wish me luck," said Tonks, and hurried out of the door. A few moments later Evie heard the loud _crack _of Apparition.

Alone, she surveyed the room properly. Behind her, framed photographs were displayed from the mantelpiece. In contrast to the rest of the room they were immaculately kept, with not a single speck of dust on the silver or glass of the frames. An older man and woman, presumably Tonks's parents, smiled up at her out of most of them. She turned away from them, feeling that she was intruding on something private, and received her first shock.

There was a telephone in the corner. Why would Tonks have a telephone? As far as Evie knew, she had no muggle friends and other witches and wizards certainly wouldn't have one. The mystery was solved as she moved closer: beside the phone was a stack of takeaway menus. Tonks had once told Evie that she had never got the hang of cooking spells, and she had seen the disastrous results of Tonks attempting to help Molly Weasley in the kitchen many times. It made sense that she would have a phone installed for the sole purpose of ordering food.

Evie's stomach grumbled quietly. She hadn't been able to eat all day and was only just realising how hungry she was. She always kept muggle money in her pocket for emergencies. Why not have dinner ready for Tonks when she came home? Rummaging through the leaflets, she selected one that advertised pizza and called the number given at the top of the page. That done, she took a seat on the sofa, ignoring Rover's haughty look, and waited.

She grew more worried as time slipped by. When the pizza arrived and there was still no sign of Tonks, she began to wonder whether Sirius believed whatever explanation Tonks had given. She cast a warming spell over the pizza and sat back, anxiously nibbling on her nail. Delaying the inevitable task of having to tell Sirius for another night had lightened her mood considerably, but without Tonks there to distract and comfort her she began to slip into a depression again.

It wasn't just Sirius that she had to worry about. She had her own life to lead. Her career with _Witch Weekly _was clearly over, but that didn't mean that she never wanted to work again. She was a member of the Order of the Phoenix and a war was approaching quickly. She would be needed to fight, to help others as she already helped by spreading the truth about Voldemort. How could she continue to do that with a baby? She had no idea how to raise a child and, with Mae and Aaron gone, there would be no one to help her.

And yet something inside her shied away from the thought of terminating the pregnancy. There had been so much destruction, so much pain, that had begun with the murder of Cedric Diggory and claimed her aunt and uncle. She, too, had been touched by it when the Death Eater had captured and tortured her, and Arthur Weasley had almost been killed. In the midst of so much death, a new life inspired hope.

Finally she heard the front door open. Moments later Tonks appeared in the living room and threw herself, exhausted, into a chair. "Pizza," she said, spying the box. "Excellent!"

Evie passed her the box. "How did it go?"

"They didn't make it easy for me." She rolled her eyes. "I had to stop Sirius from coming here to take you back home, but they agreed in the end."

"What did you tell them?"

"That you needed a girlie night out of the house."

They spent the next couple of hours talking quietly. Tonks, perhaps knowing that Evie didn't want to discuss her pregnancy, spoke a lot about the climate at the Ministry and the wider wizarding world. It was little wonder that she was tired when she was constantly under so much pressure. She was currently working under Kingsley on the team that was trying to track down Sirius. Attempting to sabotage their efforts without giving herself away was an enormously difficult task. Kingsley had offered to have her moved to a less tasking project, but Tonks was adamant that she wouldn't leave him to take the entire burden onto his shoulders.

After much coaxing, Evie finally convinced Tonks to talk about her feelings for Remus. She spoke of how his kindness and keen intellect had first interested her and confessed, blushing furiously, that she believed she was falling in love with him.

When only a few crumbs remained of the pizza, Tonks rose from her seat and stretched. "I should head to bed," she said apologetically. "Will you be alright on the sofa?"

The truth was that Evie would have preferred to sleep on a jagged rock rather than return to Grimmauld Place that night, but instead of saying so she merely nodded and helped Tonks to conjure a thick blanket and several pillows. It took a further hour after Tonks had disappeared upstairs to persuade Rover off the sofa. She alternately coaxed and threatened the stubborn tom, and finally, when he proved immovable, transfigured a tough piece of beef she found in the fridge into something vaguely edible and tempted him onto the floor.

Tired and fearful of losing her bed to the cat, she crawled fully dressed onto the sofa and pulled the blanket around her. She was fully prepared to spend the night in a state of miserable wakefulness, exhausted but too anxious to sleep. But, possibly because of the small amount of rest she'd had the previous night and the evening's hectic events, sleep came quickly, dragging her into a deep and dreamless oblivion.

When she woke the next morning, it took her a few moments to realise why her stomach was churning so painfully. There could be no more delaying the inevitable. Today she would have to tell Sirius. For a few seconds she sank deeper beneath the blanket, willing the rest of the world to disappear. But judging from the bright light that streamed in through the window the morning was already half over, and Sirius and Remus would begin to worry if she didn't return soon.

Groaning, she forced herself to sit up and almost fell straight back down upon realising that she was not alone. Sirius sat in the armchair Tonks had occupied a few hours ago, staring at Evie intently. Judging from his haggard expression he had not been granted the deep sleep that she had enjoyed.

He leaned forwards, fear, worry and anger mixing on his face, and said, "Would you like to tell me what's going on?"


	45. Telling Him

"What are you doing here?" Evie demanded.

"Hopefully I'm finding out what's wrong with you," he said, staring at her intently. "And don't feed me the 'girlie night' line again. I didn't believe it from Tonks and you're a far worse liar."

"Are you _insane?_" she hissed. "You shouldn't have left Grimmauld Place! You know you can't risk being seen."

His face filled with an unbearable bitterness, and Evie shrank back. She knew he hated being reminded of his imprisonment, his inability to help the Order, but seeing him in this setting had shocked her. He seemed to make a conscious effort to rearrange his features into a calmer expression and said, "I've risked leaving the house before, remember? On your birthday. Besides, I Flooed here; no one saw me."

"Yes, and look where that got us. That Malfoy man tried to grab me and Dumbledore was furious with us. And you know the Ministry are keeping a close eye on suspected Order members. What if they've been monitoring Tonks's fireplace?"

"Then they'd have been here already," he said calmly. "I can't help thinking that you're reacting like this because you're trying to avoid me."

"I am _not _trying to avoid you."

Sirius laughed mirthlessly. "Don't treat me like an idiot, Evie. You said all of two words to me yesterday, and you could barely even look at me. Then you sneak out of the house without saying anything – yes, I know about that," he said, seeing her startled expression. "I was frantic. You didn't come home all night and instead sent Tonks to make an awful excuse. What am I supposed to think?"

"Sirius-"

Pushing himself out of the armchair, he began to pace the room. "Are you having second thoughts about us? Have you decided there's too much of an age difference between us? Did I push you into it too quickly?"

Seeing the desperate look in his eyes, Evie was struck by how truly vulnerable Sirius was. She had always been the one who had needed reassurance, who had worried that she would not be enough for him. It had never occurred to her that he might share her worries. He carried an air of certainty that sometimes bordered on arrogance. But it occurred to her now that the only truly loving relationships he had ever known were the friendships he shared with his fellow Marauders, and they had been snatched away from him by Voldemort. Azkaban had deprived him of the chance to experience the love of a partner, daughters and sons. Evie cursed that awful place and the people who had thrown him in there without a trial. She cursed Peter Pettigrew for his terrible betrayal. In that moment she even cursed her parents for making him their Secret Keeper.

"Where are you getting these ideas?" she asked sadly.

"I did a lot of thinking last night."

"Sirius," she sighed, "I'm not having second thoughts about us. Although you might wish that was the case when I tell you why I've been acting strangely."

"Why?"

"Sit down," she said, and when he hesitated added, "Please."

He reluctantly obeyed. Instead of settling himself in the armchair, however, he sat stiffly next to her on the sofa.

Evie took a deep, calming breath. "I've been ill lately, as you know."

He paled. "My God, the sickness! Is that it? Is it serious?"

"No, no! Well, yes, but not how you think. I assumed that the illness was a side effect from the potion, but yesterday I had an idea. I thought that perhaps it wasn't ordinary sickness but… morning sickness."

She watched as shock chased the confusion from his face. "Morning sickness," he repeated. "Don't women get that when they're…"

"Pregnant. Yes. I didn't want to tell you until I was certain one way or the other, but I had no idea how to find out. That's why I needed Tonks. She told me about a potion that I could take, and then took me to Severus to get it."

For a moment he seemed poised to scold her for visiting Hogwarts and Snape, but, perhaps realising that there was a more important issue at hand, asked, "You've taken it?"

"Yes. And – And I'm pregnant."

She lowered her eyes to the floor, too terrified to look into his face in case she saw fear or anger there. For a few seconds, the longest of her life, he said nothing. Then he was laughing and pulling her into an unbreakable embrace. "Why do you look so scared?" he asked. "This is wonderful."

"_Wonderful?_" She pulled away to search his face, convinced that he was joking, but found no trace of a lie. "I'm eighteen, both of us are confined to Grimmauld Place for the foreseeable future and we're hiding our relationship from most of our friends, including Harry."

"I'll admit it's not ideal-"

"That's putting it lightly."

"But I told you the thing I wanted most was to be a family with you and Harry. A child – _our_ child – will make our family complete."

He smiled brilliantly, and suddenly Evie was terrified. She shrank from the intensity of his happiness. The very fact that he believed Harry would immediately accept their baby and want to be a part of their family was proof enough for Evie that he hadn't thought of the consequences of keeping the child. He hadn't considered the difficulties they would face, as she immediately had, but saw only a perfect image of familial bliss.

"Come on," he urged, tugging her off the sofa. "We need to tell Moony. Wait until he hears he's going to be a godfather!"

Before Evie had a chance to protest, before she had even been able to process this last remark, green flames were roaring in the fireplace and Sirius was dragging her into the fire. He wrapped his arms securely around her waist and cried, "Grimmauld Place!" Then they were spinning away. Instinctively Evie gripped Sirius's arms with all the strength she could muster, terrified that he would let her go and she would slip away. She pressed her face against his chest in an attempt to block out the journey, but the world still jerked and twisted around her.

Finally the spinning began to slow until it came to a halt completely. The grimy kitchen of Grimmauld Place slid into view, and to her surprise Evie saw that there was more than one figure sitting at the table. Dumbledore sat at the head accompanied by Tonks, Remus and Severus. None of them spoke, and although the table was laden with a heavy pot of tea and a plate piled high with ginger biscuits it was clear that they hadn't been touched. She looked up to Sirius for an explanation, but seeing the small frown he wore realised that he was just as confused.

"What's happening here?" he asked.

Severus rose from his seat, but instead of answering Sirius addressed Evie. "You must forgive me for breaking your confidence. The headmaster wished to know why the enchantments were lifted and when I told him of your visit he wanted to know the reason for it. I answered truthfully."

"And I told Remus," said Tonks apologetically. "He wanted to know why we were here."

Evie waved their apologies away. She had assumed that Dumbledore already knew, as he seemed to know everything that happened before anyone else did, and Sirius had been about to tell Remus anyway. Sirius, however, clenched his jaw. "How many other people have you told, Snape?"

"No one. I promised Evie that I would say nothing until she was ready."

"That might mean something if I trusted your promise," Sirius sneered.

"I do even if you don't," said Evie.

He looked at her incredulously. "Have you forgotten what he did?"

"No, I haven't. But he proved himself more than trustworthy last night."

Sirius seemed determined to argue, particularly when Snape smirked at him, but Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly. "Perhaps we could set aside petty squabbles for the time being. We need to discuss the matter of Evie's pregnancy."

"What's to discuss?" asked Sirius.

"You've already decided?" said Tonks, surprised.

"No," said Evie. "We haven't talked about it yet."

"Talked about wh-? Wait." Sirius turned to Dumbledore. "You're not seriously suggesting that we don't keep this baby?"

"You must consider that as a possibility."

"_Why?_"

"Raising this child would be fraught with difficulty," said Remus. "There's Evie's age, for one thing. Then there's the current situation with Voldemort, which I can only envision getting worse."

"And Harry," said Evie quietly.

"There's nothing we can't handle," said Sirius, taking Evie's hand and squeezing it. "I know you're worried about Harry, but he'll come round in the end."

"Then there's you, Black," said Snape.

Sirius glowered at him. "What about me, _Snivellus?_"

"You know how I feel about your _relationship_," he sneered, "with Evie. When you grow bored of domesticity – as I am certain you will – she will be the one left to care for the child."

"I would never abandon Evie," said Sirius, pale with anger. "Or our child."

"The choice is not yours alone to make," said Dumbledore.

"Evie?" said Remus gently. "How do you feel?"

"I don't know! I don't want to get rid of it, but there would be so many problems if we kept it."

"It's our _child_, Evie!" cried Sirius.

"I know," she moaned miserably. "But I need time to think about this. Away from you. All of you."

"You're running away from me?" whispered Sirius.

"No," she said firmly. "But I need a clear head, and I won't have that if I stay here."

"You can stay with me for as long as you need," offered Tonks.

Evie smiled gratefully at her. "Thank you."

"We need to leave soon," said Tonks. "I managed to get a couple of hours off from work, but I said I'd be back before noon."

"Wait," said Sirius, grabbing Evie's hand. "I need to talk to you first." He tugged her into the hallway and shut the door firmly on everyone in the kitchen.

"Does what I think matter at all?" he asked in a low voice.

"Of course it does!"

"I want to keep this baby. I know we'd have problems, but there's nothing we can't cope with. Unless," he hesitated, looking at her seriously. "Unless you believe what Snape said."

"No," she said, but she could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

"Evie," he said sadly. "How can you believe that I don't love you?"

"I _do _believe it!" she protested. "I know you love me. But a baby is different. You haven't had freedom in a long time; I don't want to hold you back."

"Azkaban took more than my freedom away from me. It took away my chance to ever have a family. That's what you and this baby would be, not a weight around my neck." He sighed when she still looked uncertain, and Evie felt pained that she couldn't completely believe him. "I'm not letting you leave until you promise me that you will consider keeping this baby."

Evie nodded and then, realising that he needed to hear the words, said, "I will. I promise."

"And promise that you'll come back."

She grinned and turned her face up to his. "Of course." He captured her lips in a searing kiss. There was a desperate edge to it, and his grip around her waist was slightly too tight. Evie realised how difficult it was for him to let her go, and how much she was asking of him to remain helpless in Grimmauld Place.

* * *

They complied with her wishes. The only person Evie saw or spoke to for five days was Tonks. She was a God send in those days, treating Evie as if nothing had changed. The only time they spoke of the baby and the decision that must soon be made was when Evie raised the topic, and even then Tonks didn't try to influence her decision. She gave sensible advice when asked for it and reassured Evie repeatedly that she would help her in whatever way she could.

When Tonks was at the Ministry and Evie was alone, her thoughts often strayed to Sirius. She knew that staying away from her must be agonising for him, and was deeply grateful that he had obeyed her request even as she felt guilty for imposing the condition on him.

At first she tried not to think of the baby as a person, but as a problem that needed to be solved. It made it easier to look at the situation objectively. But as the days passed that became increasingly difficult. She found herself idly wondering whether the baby would have her green eyes or Sirius's grey ones. Whether they would inherit her instinctive skill with potions or Sirius's duelling abilities. She imagined the child spoiled by Tonks and Remus, who she was certain would love to step into the respective roles of adoptive aunt and uncle. And then there was Harry. Even though she knew he would be angry, upset that they had concealed their relationship from him, she couldn't imagine that he would fail to love his niece or nephew.

The image of herself as a mother, as part of a family with Sirius and their child, was undeniably seductive. But they faced terrible problems. A war was coming that they would all be required to fight in. What if she and Sirius were killed, and their child left an orphan like Harry? What if their child was placed not in the care of people like Mae and Aaron, but of cruel, spiteful people such as Harry's aunt and uncle?

Besides that, she could not bring herself to write off Severus's words as mere bitterness. Sirius might want a child now, but when he gained his freedom it could be a chain around his neck. If he decided to leave then she would be left to raise the baby alone.

Evie came to her decision on her fifth night at Tonks's house. Tonks had fallen asleep in the armchair, leaving Evie to her thoughts. She arrived at her decision quickly and, despite the fact that only moments before she had still been struggling between choices, she knew that she wouldn't change her mind. Having decided, she also knew that she couldn't keep Sirius waiting any longer. Not wanting to wake Tonks, she scribbled her a note and prepared the fire to return to Grimmauld Place.


	46. Warnings

Sorry about the delay! We thought we'd finally found a house but it all fell through at the last minute, so I've been in a foul mood for the last few days. On another topic, I'd really appreciate your opinions. We're getting near the end of _Evie _and I started writing the epilogue I'd planned. However, the epilogue is turning out to be ridiculously long (ten chapters so far and still going). Would you rather have the long epilogue or a separate story that follows Evie through Deathly Hallows?

* * *

A fierce smell hit Evie as she emerged from the fireplace into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. She wrinkled her nose and clapped a hand over her mouth, her stomach churning. Her morning sickness had abated slightly over the past few days but strong smells or greasy food were enough to send her running to the bathroom. Holding her breath, she cast a Bubble Head charm around herself. Equipped with a supply of clean air, she was free to look around the kitchen.

Several empty bottles accounted for the stale smell of alcohol. Dirty plates were piled high in the sink and a frying pan with a blackened lump in the bottom teetered precariously on top. Remus, Evie realised, must be away on work for the Order. He would have kept the house in a vaguely respectable state. That would also explain Tonks's tense behaviour, her eyes constantly flicking to the window or the fireplace as if expecting news, over the past couple of days.

She hurried out of the kitchen and shut the door with relief. She had been planning to make her way to the bedroom she shared with Sirius and wake him, but a flickering light from beneath the living room door told her there was no need. Removing the charm, she quietly pushed the door open and stepped inside. Sirius was sprawled over the threadbare sofa, his head lolling against his chest. Studying his face Evie felt a pang of guilt. Even in sleep he wore a frown, his mouth turned down in a tight line of worry, and from the rumpled appearance of his clothes and hair she guessed that he had been taking as little care of himself as he had of the kitchen.

Clearing herself a space on the sofa, Evie perched herself next to him and gently shook him awake. At first he murmured a protest, pushed her hand away and turned over. When she persisted he reluctantly dragged himself into a sitting position, grumbling quietly to himself. He blinked blearily once, twice and seemed to realise who he was looking at. "Evie!" he cried. "You're back!"

"Sorry for waking you. I thought you'd want to know right away."

This took a long moment to sink in. When it finally did his eyes widened. "Does this mean you've decided?" he asked, both fear and tentative hope clear in his voice.

Evie nodded. "But before I tell you I need to know that you understand the kind of problems a baby would cause." He began to say that he did, but Evie held up a hand to silence him. "No, I need you to _really _understand. The odds would be stacked against us. Every newborn baby comes with difficulties, but we would have a whole set of unique problems. Harry could hate us for this; he might not want to speak to us again. Then there's Voldemort. My parents were full time members of the Order and Harry and I ended up as orphans. The same thing could happen to our child."

"I do know the problems, Evie," he said, his voice quiet but urgent as he took her hand. "I thought about it a lot while you were gone, wondering whether I was doing the right thing by asking you to keep the baby. I know there's a chance Harry won't want to see us again – and I'm certain he will be angry – but I don't think it will last forever. He wants a family more than anything else, and he'd love a niece or nephew."

"And Voldemort?" asked Evie quietly.

"I won't deny that we're both targets, but thanks to your complete inability to duel you will be out of the line of fire most of the time. As for me," he grinned sheepishly, "I'll be more careful. I won't take as many risks. I'll stay here for the next decade if I have to."

"Is that really what you want?"

"To stay here? Of course not. But I _do _really want this child."

Evie sighed and searched Sirius's face, finding only sincerity. There was nothing there to change her mind, although she hadn't expected Sirius to be able to sway her either way. She made up her mind an hour ago, and had known then that she wouldn't change it again. Bracing herself for his reaction, she closed her eyes and said, "I've decided to keep it."

Sirius was silent for so long that Evie began to think he hadn't heard her. Opening her eyes, she saw blank shock on his face. Clearly he hadn't been expecting this decision. A moment of terror, in which Evie wondered whether Sirius had only wanted to seem eager to keep the child because he was certain she wouldn't want to, and then he was launching himself across the sofa, wrapping her in a bone crushing hug and laughing in her ear. "You're really keeping it?" he asked happily.

"Really," she rasped. "Can't breathe."

"Sorry!" he apologised, withdrawing hastily. "That can't have been good for the baby. I'll have to be careful how I handle you now."

"No more sending me flying in defence lessons."

Sirius chuckled. "I'm sure you'll miss that." His smile faded and he hesitated before asking, "You're not going to change your mind, are you?"

"No. I wouldn't have told you if I wasn't certain."

"What made you decide?"

"It's difficult to explain," said Evie slowly. "I started imagining what it would look like, and what it would be good at. After I started thinking of it like that – as a child, _our _child – I knew I had to keep it."

Sirius grinned and took Evie's hand, squeezing it gently. "I can tell you what she'll be like. She'll be the biggest troublemaker in Hogwarts since I was there."

"_She?_"

He nodded. "She. I'm sure she's a girl." He rose to his feet, pulling Evie with him. "Come on," he ordered. "I'll make us a celebratory breakfast."

"It's a few hours too early for that," said Evie, grimacing. As he dragged her towards the kitchen she wondered how to tell him politely that a bite of his food would make her violently sick.

* * *

That morning Sirius reluctantly sent a Patronus to Snape. He wanted Remus, his oldest friend, to be the first to hear the good news, but as Snape would be the one to care for Evie's health during her pregnancy it was imperative that he be informed. Before agreeing to send the Patronus Sirius spent an hour trying to convince Evie to use a qualified Healer, but in the end he was forced to concede to her logic. In the current climate it would be too dangerous to make frequent trips to St. Mungo's, not to mention the uproar that would be caused should Harry Potter's supposedly dead sister stroll into the waiting room.

Tonks arrived during her lunch break to check up on her friend. Sirius was fully prepared to hold a grudge against her for suggesting that Evie stay at Willow Hill for the last few days, but when he saw that she was almost frantic with worry for Evie his anger dissolved. The separation and waiting for Evie's decision had been more difficult to endure than his imprisonment in Grimmauld Place but Tonks had only acted in Evie's best interests. He wouldn't let his annoyance jeopardise the friendship that was fast growing between the two women.

After reassuring herself that Evie was safe and happy with her decision Tonks hurried back to the Ministry, promising that she would visit as soon as her workload allowed it. On her way out she passed Remus, returning from his latest mission for the Order. He looked even more pale and thin than usual but cheered up considerably when he was told that he would soon be a godfather.

The sky was beginning to darken when they moved into the living room to sit next to the fire. Sirius, deciding that Evie needed somewhere more comfortable to rest than the hard kitchen chairs, had spent several hours cleaning out the room, transforming it from a dusty and gloomy place into somewhere vaguely welcoming. He held Evie captive on the sofa while Remus, fighting his heavy eyelids, sat opposite them in an armchair.

"Nell," said Sirius firmly.

Evie looked up from her book, frowning. "Sorry?"

"Nell. I've always liked that name for a girl."

"Isn't it a bit early for that? We have more important things to worry about."

"Like what?"

"Like Harry," said Remus and Evie simultaneously, and then grinned at each other.

"He'll come round," said Sirius with such certainty that for a moment Evie could almost believe him.

"He might be a boy, any-" began Remus, but was interrupted by the doorbell and Mrs Black's shrieks of rage.

Sirius groaned and disentangled himself from Evie, rising to his feet. "She's a girl," he called over his shoulder as he reached the door. "I can feel it."

He stepped into the hallway and shut the door, sparing Evie and Remus his mother's deranged ranting. As he silenced her with a violent jab of his wand, he briefly considered telling her that he would soon have a child. It must have tortured her when Regulus died childless, effectively bringing an end to the most noble house of Black. Continuing the line, preserving their pure blood, had been the most important thing in her life. It was more important than both her husband and children, as Sirius had learned to his cost. Walburga would have been horrified that a child of Sirius's would continue the family line, particularly when the child's famous uncle had toppled Voldemort. But Sirius had no intention of cursing his child with the name of Black. His daughter deserved so much better than that; she would be a Potter.

Opening the front door, Sirius had to suppress a groan. Snape stood on the doorstep, looking as sour as ever. "What do you want?" he demanded.

Unperturbed by Sirius's refusal to move, Snape pushed his way inside. "I understand that Evie has decided to keep the baby. I am here to monitor her health."

"Alright," said Sirius reluctantly. "But before you see her, I'm warning you-"

"No, Black," interrupted Snape, "_I _am warning _you_. You are exactly the same as you always were. You take up with women, use them while they amuse you and then discard them. I see no reason why you won't discard Evie in exactly the same way as soon as you can leave this place. I can't fathom why you took it in your head to convince her to keep this child, but it means you are committed to both of them. You will care for Evie and her baby or you will have me to answer to."

Sirius caught himself just as his fingers were twitching towards his wand. There was nothing he would love more dearly than to curse Snape into oblivion, but sadly that wasn't an option. Evie needed Snape to care for her health, and he wouldn't distress her by starting a fight. Forcing his voice to remain calm he said, "I don't think that's what you want, _Snivellus. _I'm sure you've noticed how much Evie looks like her mother. I think you _want _me out of the picture so you can pretend she's Lily and play happy families."

Snape paled and Sirius smiled grimly. The professor was almost trembling with anger, and for a moment Sirius wished that Snape would curse him so that he could retaliate without feeling guilty. With a visible effort Snape gathered his control and said, "If you abandon her, I will kill you."

"The same applies to you should you forget who Evie is," said Sirius coldly. "And if you mention this to her, if you upset her in any way-"

Sneering disdainfully Snape said, "That won't be a problem. _I _can control myself."

"As can I."

They stared at each other in mutual hatred until Remus called out, asking Sirius whether anything was wrong. Sirius grunted for Snape to follow him into the living room, wondering how long this tentative halt to hostilities could last.


	47. Danger

Over the next few weeks and months Grimmauld Place buzzed with activity. Molly had fought a battle with the house over the summer, but with a baby due to arrive in a few months the war began in earnest. Every room was scoured from top to bottom, every dark and dangerous family heirloom destroyed. The ancient house elf emerged from his habitual hiding place and, following the muttered orders of his mistress's portrait, attempted to rescue the most prized Black possessions. When he was caught and ordered by Sirius to desist, Kreacher thumped his wizened fists against the kitchen floor and let out a piteous wail that seemed to go on and on forever until Evie felt an answering scream building up in her chest.

After that incident Kreacher took to following people around the house as they cleaned, muttering insults under his breath and silently mouthing them after he was forbidden to utter the words. Evie was certain that he had told his mistress about her pregnancy because every time a loud noise made the curtains covering the portrait fly open the Black matriarch's insults were aimed solely at her. Even when Walburga was thought to be sleeping a low hiss of hatred seeped beneath the curtains whenever Evie walked past. Chilled, she apparated around the house rather than walk through that corridor alone.

Although Tonks and Remus were roped in to help clean the house, Evie was forbidden from doing anything more strenuous than turning a page. Severus provided her with a large stack of books about pregnancy and baby care, but when she had read each one twice she insisted that she be allowed to assist in the decontamination of the house. Eventually, after much protestation, Sirius relented and agreed on the condition that she didn't work with Tonks, who had a tendency to spectacularly destroy everything she tried to clean with magic. There was a particularly terrifying incident when the wardrobe Tonks was attempting to scour suddenly sprouted legs and chased her through the house. It took Tonks, Evie, Remus and Sirius shooting curses at it to finally end the ordeal by reducing it to small splinters of wood, although even then they continued to twitch weakly on the floor.

Tonks became a permanent fixture at Grimmauld Place, both to support Evie and (Evie suspected) to spend more time with Remus. To Evie's pleasure and Sirius's great amusement, Remus was beginning to crumble under the force of Tonks's persuasion. More than once they stumbled upon the two of them with their heads bent close together, whispering, and one morning when Sirius and Evie woke earlier than usual they entered the kitchen to witness Remus and Tonks springing apart, both blushing furiously.

Severus also became a regular visitor, although as the weeks wore on it became increasingly difficult for him to sneak unnoticed from Hogwarts. He provided Evie with informational books and leaflets, as well as potions to ease her morning sickness, and discussed how the birth would proceed. The fragile peace he had formed with Sirius continued almost uninterrupted; there were a few times when Evie heard hushed, angry voices behind closed doors, but they stopped abruptly whenever she entered the room.

The only person who didn't visit the house at all was Molly Weasley. Evie had visited The Burrow the day after deciding to keep the baby seeking advice, only to be told that she was no longer welcome in the house. Molly was furious with both Sirius and Evie, terrified about what the news of their baby would do to Harry. Evie returned to Grimmauld Place and sought out an empty room of the house, crying privately over Molly's words. She refused to tell Sirius what had happened: she knew it would end in a fight with Molly, and Molly was only concerned for Harry.

Worrying news continued to flow in from the outside world. Shortly after Easter, Dumbledore arrived at Grimmauld Place just as everyone was preparing to go to bed. All of them – Evie, Sirius, Remus and Tonks – crowded around him, asking why he had left his students so late at night. Had there been an attack? Were they needed? But no, Voldemort and his Death Eaters weren't responsible for the trouble: the Ministry was. Umbridge had uncovered Harry's illicit defence lessons and Dumbledore had taken the blame, forcing him to abandon his post as headmaster and leaving Umbridge to step into his position. Evie wanted to write to her brother to comfort him, but she knew that was impossible: Umbridge could now open every letter entering the school if she chose to.

Hard on the heels of Dumbledore's departure was the news of Fred and George's. They burst into the house, full of the thrill of their triumph, and spent three hours regaling the Grimmauld Place inhabitants with the tale of the havoc they had wreaked. It was only when Remus gently suggested that they return to The Burrow and tell their mother they had left formal education that their smiles faded.

At the onset of exams Evie and Sirius sent Harry a good luck card. They couldn't sign their names but included one of Buckbeak's feathers, hoping Harry would realise who his well wishers were.

A stifling day in June found Sirius and Evie in Buckbeak the hippogriff's room. Feeding him his daily bag of dead rats, Sirius had discovered a sluggishly bleeding wound in one of Buckbeak's hind legs. Evie, far superior in her knowledge of healing magic, had offered to look at it. Knowing that tampering with the wound could enrage Buckbeak, and that a swipe from one of his powerful claws could prove fatal, they put him into a magical sleep while Evie carefully cleaned the gash in his leg. While she worked they spoke about the topic that had dominated both of their thoughts over the past few weeks: how to tell Harry about the baby.

"We could just not say anything," suggested Evie half heartedly. "Hope he doesn't notice."

"I think he might begin to suspect something when he comes home for the Christmas holidays and finds a baby in the house."

"Well _you _suggest something. I can't think of a good way to tell him his sister is having a baby with his godfather."

"It sounds bad when you put it like _that_."

Sirius grinned winningly but Evie's answering smile was barely more than a twitch of her lips. He watched her work in silence, wondering whether her small frown was of concentration or worry for Harry. The moment she finished rubbing ointment into the cut and set the bottle aside he scooted forwards, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him so that she sat between his legs. "Everything will be fine," he said firmly. "Yes, Harry will be shocked, perhaps even angry, but he'll come round in the end."

"But what if he doesn't? What if he never wants to speak to us again?"

"Don't worry," he ordered. "It's bad for the baby."

"But-"

Grasping her chin, Sirius tilted her head upwards and interrupted her with a kiss. Evie gave a tiny murmur of protest but softened as he increased the intensity of the kiss, stroking her cheek tenderly. Chuckling against her lips, he tightened his grip around her waist until she relaxed against his chest. By the time he drew away she was grumbling again, but this time at the breaking apart of the embrace.

Grinning smugly he asked, "Still worried?"

"You're not _that _good, Black."

"Practice makes perfect." He leaned down for another kiss but was distracted by a streak of silver glimpsed out of the corner of his eye. A doe Patronus soared through the window and glided gracefully to the floor. "Snape," he growled. "What does he want?"

"Severus?" asked Evie, her eyes flying open. "What's he doing here?"

"Not him; his Patronus."

The doe opened her mouth and when Severus's voice emerged it was difficult to miss the undercurrent of panic. In a man who usually remained calm this was worrying, and even Sirius frowned. "Sirius at Grimmauld Place?" the doe asked, and then dissolved into the air.

"No, I've nipped out for a stroll around the block," muttered Sirius bitterly.

"Why does he want to know that?"

"Who knows? Perhaps he sent it on the off chance that it would kill a moment."

"You should answer him. It might be important."

"I know, I know," he grumbled. He raised his wand and his own unnaturally large dog Patronus shot out of the end, bounding through the place the doe had entered just moments before. "Now." Slipping his wand into his pocket, he turned his attention back to Evie. "Where were we?"

Evie placed her hand in the middle of his chest and pushed him away. "Oh no, you don't. There's a meeting soon and we need to get ready for it."

Sirius glared at her mutinously. "I could just lock you in here and keep you to myself."

"You could," she agreed reasonably. "But I'm sure someone would come looking for us, and having Mad-Eye burst in and – how did you put it? – _kill the moment _isn't high up on my list of priorities. On the other hand, you could help me make the dinner and be agreeable during the meeting. Then I'm all yours."

"But that'll be hours away," he whined.

"But you'll have me to yourself for the rest of the night. A night which, I would like to emphasise, will be Mad-Eye free."

He continued to mutter under his breath about how easy it would be to keep her prisoner there, but Evie knew she had him. The thought of Mad-Eye interrupting them as Severus's Patronus had was enough to dampen even Sirius's enthusiasm. "Fine," he said eventually, rising to his feet and helping her up. "But if Moony and Tonks stay the night then I'm locking them in the kitchen."

"I don't think they'd put up too much of a fight."

Leaving Buckbeak to wake from his enchanted sleep, they descended the many flights of stairs to the kitchen. Molly had always provided food for the meetings, but as she was doing everything in her power to avoid Grimmauld Place lately that responsibility fell to Evie. Remembering Sirius's disastrous attempt at baking a birthday cake, she set him to chopping lettuce for a salad and silently prayed that he could keep control of the sharp knife he directed with his wand. Soon several chicken and mushroom pies were in the oven, while Sirius had rummaged through every cupboard in search of a clean bowl to hold his salad.

"Perfect," he proclaimed proudly, standing back to admire his work.

"What's perfect?" Tonks had just entered the kitchen and slipped off her travelling cloak, and now she peered curiously over her cousin's shoulder.

"Sirius's salad."

Tonks looked at it critically. "It's hardly a work of art."

"I'd like to see you do better," said Sirius, affronted.

"Alright, I will!"

She drew her wand and Sirius and Evie exchanged alarmed looks. They began to protest loudly at the same time, resulting in an unintelligible clamour that failed to deter Tonks. Sirius stepped in front of Evie at the same moment as Tonks flicked her wand at the salad, resulting in an explosion of lettuce leaves and tomatoes. Tonks and Sirius, standing directly in front of it, received the main force of the blast and were showered in vegetables.

"Oops," said Tonks in a small voice.

"You can tell you two are related," grumbled Evie, rubbing a blob of tomato off her cheek.

"I resent that! It was a fantastic salad until _somebody_ came along and meddled with it."

"It was beautiful," soothed Evie. "And thank you for so heroically throwing yourself into the path of a speeding cucumber."

After much grumbling, Evie shooed them from the room to clean themselves up while she took care of the chaos in the kitchen. By the time she had finished – and Sirius and a very sheepish looking Tonks had returned – Order members had begun to arrive. First came Mad-Eye, eager to talk to his protégé about new procedures at the Auror office, followed by Kingsley and finally an exhausted Remus. They took seats around the table, talking amongst themselves as they waited for the others to arrive. Before long had passed, however, a fire roared into life, causing Evie to almost fall off her seat, and Severus's head appeared in the flames.

"I don't have long," he said. "Don't speak, listen. Earlier this afternoon Harry was convinced that the Dark Lord had Sirius in the Department of Mysteries. I had no chance to question him because Delores had him. Potter and Granger went into the forest with Delores some time ago and haven't yet returned, and two of the Weasleys, Longbottom and the Lovegood girl have disappeared. I fear they have gone to London, to the Ministry, to rescue Sirius."

"Harry had another vision?" asked Sirius urgently.

"I don't know, but it seems likely. As you are clearly in no danger, that means-"

"Voldemort planted the vision in the boy's mind," finished Mad-Eye. "He must have learned of their connection."

"He's luring Harry to the prophecy," said Kingsley grimly.

Everyone seemed to take this as a signal to leap into action. They jumped to their feet, checking pockets and cloaks for wands and looking to Mad-Eye for instructions. "Snape!" he barked. "Search the forest for Potter."

Severus gave nodded and with a small _pop _his head disappeared from the fire.

"We're going to the Department of Mysteries. Our first priority is to protect Potter and the others, but it is vital that we keep the prophecy out of Voldemort's hands." Moody drew his wand and began stumping towards the door, the others falling in step behind him. "It's unlikely that Voldemort will move in the open, so we should be fighting Death Eaters. If he _is _there, no one duel him alone. You hear me? I don't want to see any heroics!"

"Evie." Sirius grabbed her shoulders and forced her to face him. "If anyone else arrives tell them where we are. Try to get in touch with the Weasleys and Dumbledore, we'll need them."

Until that moment Evie's head had spun. The realisation that Harry was in real danger had frozen her, and she was trying desperately hard to understand what _prophecies _and the _Department of Mysteries_ had to do with it, and why everyone else seemed to understand their significance. The cold fear written in the faces of Sirius, Remus and Tonks, the powerful, talented Order fighters, almost sent her into a panic. But the moment she understood that Sirius expected her to remain at Grimmauld Place she snapped out of her daze.

"You aren't suggesting that I stay here?"

"Of course you're staying here!"

"Sirius," she said quietly. "It appears that everyone I love is about to walk into mortal danger. Do you expect me to stay here and wait for the news that you, Harry, Remus or Tonks has been killed?"

"That's exactly what I expect," he said fiercely, his fingers digging into her shoulders. "Aside from the fact that you can't duel, you are _pregnant_, Evie! You or the baby or _both_ could be killed."

"I am not-"

"No!" he almost shouted. "You are _not _coming with us."

He kissed her quickly, apparently not caring that Mad-Eye and Kingsley could see, and then spun away, hurrying after the others. Evie knew that she had a decision to make: remain safely at Grimmauld Place and wait for news, or try to help those she loved and in doing so put herself in danger. That was no decision at all. Running after Sirius, she grabbed his elbow just as he stepped outside and apparated with him to the Ministry of Magic.


	48. Department of Mysteries

You'll have to excuse any inaccuracies in the battle at the DOM. My books are in storage so I can't check who was where and fighting who.

* * *

The world disappeared as Evie turned into black, swirling pressure. There was a moment of terrible nausea that almost made her lose her hold on Sirius's arm, but she strengthened her grip and gritted her teeth until the queasy feeling in her stomach ebbed away. Then Sirius jerked sharply and they were tumbling out of the darkness onto a cold tile floor. Evie landed heavily on her back the force of the impact knocked all of the air out of her lungs. She had no time to catch her breath before Sirius was dragging her to her feet, his hands gentle even as his eyes blazed with anger.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed.

"I can't stay at home and wait to hear that one of you has died, and you can't ask me to!"

"Go home, Evie," he ordered through gritted teeth.

"No! You said yourself that there are some things worth dying for."

"Not when it concerns you! For God's sake, Evie, I love you and you're carrying my child!" His shout echoed around the room. As his voice died away they glared at each other, both refusing to drop their eyes. When he spoke again the anger had deserted his voice, leaving it flat and emotionless, and for the first time Evie was frightened. "You're not going to leave, are you?" he asked.

"No," she said firmly.

His hand darted towards his wand and Evie realised what he planned to do. But there was no time to prevent it, and even if she was granted a few precious seconds, what chance would she have? She had never once bested Sirius in all of their lessons. All she could do was utter a cry of impotent anger and horror at the coming betrayal, and then watch as Sirius whipped his wand through the air to face her. Her arms and legs snapped sharply together, like a soldier standing to attention, and then, frozen, she began to topple. Sirius caught her before she fell more than a few inches, laying her gently on the floor.

"I'm sorry," he said, and there was no doubt in Evie's mind that it had cost him a lot to paralyse her; but she would never be able to completely forgive him for this. After being trapped in Grimmauld Place for months, after being prevented by Dumbledore from searching for her when she was kidnapped, how could he do this to her? Hot tears of frustration welled up in her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks.

"Don't cry," pleaded Sirius, wiping the tears away with the pad of his thumb. "I know you hate me for this, but I'd rather have you alive and hating me than dead or hurt."

Kissing her softly, he eased her head onto the tiles and tapped her skull sharply with his wand. Coolness trickled down her body and she knew she had been Disillusioned. With a final sorrowful look Sirius rose and hurried into one of a few stalls set against the wall. There was a sound of rushing water, and Evie knew she was now alone.

She lay there for no more than a minute before footsteps rapped against the tiles, and she wondered whether a Death Eater was about to walk into her line of vision. Panic made her head spin and tears swam in her unblinking eyes; this would be the first time she had seen a Death Eater since one of their number had captured and tortured her. Sirius might have thought that hiding her in a corner was a good idea, but it occurred to her now that an enemy would only have to brush against her foot or arm to realise that someone was there. The lightest of touches and she would be paralysed, unable to Disapparate or defend herself, at the hands of a Death Eater.

The door of one of the stalls swung open and, to Evie's almost overpowering relief, Tonks stepped out. The young woman stared around the room with a frown before raising her wand and muttering something under her breath. Evie felt something cold brush over her and then, with a few more flicks of Tonks's wand, she was visible and her limbs were pliable once more. Tonks rushed over to help Evie to her feet.

"Sirius is going to kill me when he finds out about this," said Tonks ruefully. "But I couldn't leave you here once I found out what he'd done. I think you'd be safer at home, but you're a grown woman and a member of the Order. You can make your own decisions."

"Thank you," said Evie sincerely, briefly hugging her friend.

"If you're going to come we have to go now. We need to catch up with the others."

Evie nodded and followed Tonks into one of the stalls, confused when she saw only a toilet there and even more confounded when Tonks stepped into it. She pushed the handle and was dragged down into the toilet, disappearing from view. Hoping for the best, Evie followed suit and found herself standing in the middle of a large, deserted entrance hall. Tonks grabbed her hand and they began to run.

Evie lost count of the rooms they passed through. As there were no other members of the Order in sight they were guided only by the distant rumbling of a fight; the sound of curses missing their mark and shattering walls, and the occasional shriek of anger or pain rising above the jumble of noises. If it had been any other time Evie would have been fascinated. As they descended through the levels they passed through a room filled with hundreds of clocks of every shape and size, the combined ticking of them all almost deafening, and another containing only black, tar like potions that bubbled sluggishly. Every time Evie's interest was sparked the noise of the fight seemed to grow louder, and she was overcome with fear for Harry, Sirius and their friends.

As they drew closer to the fight Tonks cautioned Evie to remain out of sight as much as possible. "Duelling isn't your strong point, so stay out of the main fight. Our priority is to get Harry and his friends out of there. If you can do it without endangering yourself, round them up and take them back to the entrance and then to headquarters while we deal with the Death Eaters. If you can't manage side along Apparition then try and summon some brooms – that's probably how they got here. How are your shield charms?"

"Better than my curses."

"If you can't get Harry and the others out then stick to the side lines and make sure they're all shielded. You're a talented healer; help the wounded."

Finally, breathless and flushed, they came to a halt in front of a door. It sounded like fireworks or small bombs were being exploded on the other side. "I think this is it," said Tonks in a hushed voice, and redoubled her grip on her wand. "Ready?"

Evie wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and tried to hide her trembling. Although she knew it was irrational, that he probably still lay rotting in the cellar she had escaped from, she was terrified of seeing the Death Eater who had tortured her. But she was more scared of what might happen to her friends. She gripped her wand so hard that it dug into her palm, but was numb to the pain she knew she should feel. "Ready," she confirmed.

Tonks nodded and blasted the door open with a sharp motion of her wand. She reached behind her and grabbed Evie's shoulder, dragging them both to the floor as a jet of red light shot through the place where their heads had been moments before. "Thanks," squeaked Evie, scrambling back to her feet, and Tonks smiled briefly before diving into the fray. Evie followed, deflecting a couple of curses as she struggled down a large set of stone stairs. As she descended she looked wildly around the room, searching for anyone she knew. Finally her eyes alighted upon a shock of red hair and she changed direction, running towards it.

Ginny stood next to a wall, firing curses with a blonde girl Evie didn't recognise. She looked up at the sound of Evie's approach and grinned, shouting over the noise to tell the other girl that Evie was a friend. "How are you holding up?" asked Evie as she reached them. "Are either of you injured?"

"Not too badly," called Ginny, leaning around Evie to hex a Death Eater duelling with Kingsley. Both of the girls continued cursing and hexing those of Voldemort's servants who came too close to them, allowing Evie to heal their small scrapes and cuts. When she had finished she drew back and cast a strong shield charm around them.

"I'm going to round up the others and then we'll get out of here!"

"Fine by me," said Ginny grimly.

Evie hurried away, searching for more of Harry's companions. After only a few paces she came across Remus beginning to tire as he fought two large Death Eaters. Knowing that attempting to Stun one of them would probably have very little affect, she thought desperately for a moment of flinging herself at the smallest and trying to knock him down. Thankfully another idea sprang into her mind, and directing her wand at the one closest to her she muttered an incantation. Black fabric sprang out of the end of her wand and flew at the Death Eater, wrapping itself around his head and blinding him. He shouted in surprise and clawed at the blindfold, foolishly dropping his wand. Evie darted forwards and, narrowly missing getting his fingers crushed by the stumbling Death Eater, stole his wand and threw it to Remus.

As she turned to check on him something hard collided with her, knocking her to the floor. The Death Eater had managed to free himself of the blindfold and now crushed her into the ground, his snarling face inches from her. "What have you done with my wand?" he demanded.

Evie lashed out, trying to scrape her nails over his unprotected eyes. She missed but to avoid her blow the Death Eater was forced to rock to the side, and in doing so lost balance. He fell with all his weight on Evie's wrist, forcing it into an unnatural angle, and she screamed as she heard the crack of the bone and white hot agony shot up her arm. Suddenly he froze and was yanked off her. Remus's worried face came into view, blurred by the tears of pain gathering rapidly in her eyes.

"Are you hurt?" asked Remus, kneeling next to her and sliding an arm beneath her waist. Together they struggled back to their feet.

"I think my wrist is broken," she said shakily.

"You shouldn't be here, Evie." He turned her gently and pointed to where Harry and another boy sat on the stone steps. "You see Harry and Neville? I want you to go to them and get out of here. Can you make it on your own?"

Evie nodded and, repeating his command to leave, Remus left her to return to the fight. Ducking and winding past the curses that filled the air, avoiding them more by luck than skill, she reached the bottom of the steps. It was then that she remembered her promise to return to Ginny and her friend, and changed her course to reach them. Before she could even locate them in the scramble of people, the door burst open again and Dumbledore strode in radiating anger and power. There was a cry of elation from all those Order members and Hogwarts students who saw Dumbledore's entrance, and Evie felt her heart swell with relief. Within a minute the Death Eaters still on their feet had been subdued and bound.

A familiar bark of laughter drew her eyes to the platform in the centre of the room, where the only two people still duelling shot curses and counter curses at each other. Sirius fought his mad cousin Bellatrix, taunting her and laughing as he did. Bellatrix threw a killing curse at him that missed him by a hair's breadth, and Evie uttered a frightened cry. In the silence that had fallen since Dumbledore's arrival the sound carried clearly, and Sirius's head whipped around to face her. The colour in his cheeks built up by the exhilaration of a good fight drained away. His wand hung limply in his hand and, as Bellatrix laughed triumphantly, Evie was certain that she had killed him.

But something made Bellatrix pause. Perhaps it was the terror written on her cousin's face, or the shock of him faltering during a fight, but she turned to find the source of his fear and her eyes fell on Evie. Her lips curved into an incredulous, ecstatic smile. Too late Sirius realised his mistake. As he dove towards his opponent, Bellatrix raised her wand and fired a curse at Evie.

The only thing she was aware of in the second after the green light hit her was the sound of her name echoing around the chamber. Then there was only darkness, and the sensation of falling.


	49. Allys

I know that was a _really _mean cliff hanger and I should have updated sooner, but I was on holiday. Only one more chapter after this!

* * *

Warmth and a bright light, almost startling after the darkness of the Department of Mysteries, woke Evie. She didn't want to wake; sleep was a safe cocoon protecting her from a terrible grief she knew was waiting to devour her. She couldn't remember what she had done to warrant such agony. Memories of the fight at the Ministry returned sluggishly, and she remembered only fear and pain rather than any specific event. She was almost certain that the memories would come into sharper clarity if she admitted that she was awake, but the world wouldn't go away just because she wished it to, and so she forced her heavy eyelids open.

No grief came, and the pain that she had felt seconds earlier deserted her. Looking around her, Evie felt only happiness. She was back in the garden of her childhood, sitting in the precise spot where Aaron had helped her perform her first spell. There were no signs of the fire that had destroyed the place; it looked like the last place on earth where a Death Eater would ever wish to set foot. The warm, emerald grass, scent of lilac perfuming the air and azure sky overhead were a million miles away from the place she had just left.

She could have spent hours reacquainting herself with the small garden. The tree branches were laden with apples, and her mouth began to water at the memory of their sharp taste. Every year until her death Mae had baked them into pies and crumbles, while Aaron had taken a basket to the muggles in the nearby village. Thinking of her adoptive parents made Evie look instinctively towards the cottage that despite fire and curses, defying all logic, still stood where it always had. The door was open in a silent invitation.

Barely daring to breathe lest she should dispel the illusion, Evie crept towards the cottage. It was cool and dark inside, and she had to pause for a moment to allow her eyes to adjust to the change of light. The living room was just as she remembered it. As she moved through it she touched the ornaments that had stood in the same places for years, smiling at the knick knacks she had thought she would never see again. A low, musical voice called her name from the kitchen and she jumped, almost dropping the small ornament she held. The voice was female but certainly didn't belong to Mae, and yet Evie wasn't afraid. She knew instinctively that whoever waited in the next room meant her no harm.

Her legs seemed to move of their own volition, taking her to the kitchen. When she saw who waited for her at the table, Evie found that she couldn't speak. The woman was beautiful, with honey coloured hair that rippled past her shoulders and warm brown eyes. Although Evie had never set eyes on her in her life, the woman seemed somehow familiar. She smiled, her eyes kind and welcoming, and beckoned Evie to take a seat. Evie obeyed without thinking, glad to be in the calming presence of the stranger.

"Welcome, daughter," the woman said softly. "I have been so longing to see you, and here you are at last."

"You know me?" asked Evie, certain that she would have remembered meeting this almost impossibly beautiful woman.

The woman nodded. "I have known you for many years. You are the daughter of one of my daughters in all but blood, and that makes you my family."

"You're related to Mae?"

She smiled, apparently happy that Evie had understood so quickly. "Yes. I am her ancestor."

Evie looked around the room. "What is this place?" she asked. "It looks like my home but I know it can't be. It was destroyed."

"This is a place of answers, Evie. Ask anything within the boundaries of my knowledge and I will answer."

In her mind Evie saw a jet of green light streaking through the air towards her, and the sound of Harry and Sirius frantically calling her name. She grimaced, raising a hand to the place where Bellatrix's curse had collided with her chest. "Am I dead?" she whispered.

"No, child. You are unconscious and in the care of a healer and your lover. Some would call you extremely lucky, but it wasn't luck or chance that saved your life tonight: it was the gift that Mae passed on to you."

"The power? But I got rid of that! Severus…" But she found she couldn't continue under the woman's suddenly stern gaze. For the first time the woman wasn't looking at her kindly and Evie was scared. Perhaps realising the coldness in her expression, the woman allowed the anger to melt from her face and smiled apologetically.

"I am sorry for frightening you," she said gently. "I was angry with you, at the time, for throwing away such a precious gift so lightly." She held up her hand as Evie began to protest, and Evie fell silent immediately. "But that is not the answer you seek," she continued. "You can never destroy a gift of the Gods. You can hide it or diminish it, but never banish it entirely. A tiny spark of Mae's power – of _my _power – lingers in your body, and it was that which preserved your life tonight."

"_Your _power?" Evie squeaked. "A _'gift of the Gods'_?"

The woman gave a small, tinkling laugh. "The power began with me, but I wasn't born with it." Her face grew serious, her eyes sad, as she continued. "I lived in a violent time, Evie. A greedy man coveted the land my father gave to me when I married. When my husband was killed in battle, he moved against me and sent a contingent of dark wizards to remove me from my land. My servants, fearing for their lives, abandoned me. I had to defend my young son alone. As the wizards drew closer and I saw how great their number, I cried out in desperation to every God I knew to preserve the life of my child. Someone listened, and when the wizards breached my home they died without me even having to raise my wand. The hand of fate saved us: my son was destined to live and strive to greatness."

Evie's head reeled. From what the woman said, Evie guessed that she had lived centuries before. She had tried to destroy a God given power that had been passed down the generations for hundreds of years. The flash of anger in the woman's eyes, her refusal to hear Evie's excuses, suddenly made sense. "Your son," she breathed. "Did you pass the power to him like Mae did to me?"

"No. The power is passed from mother to daughter only. When I married again and bore a daughter, she inherited my gift. But she aided her brother with it many times, and his chosen continue to benefit from it."

"If I still have the power," said Evie slowly, "why hasn't it shown itself? I've hurt people with it without trying to before, and I certainly haven't been trying to control it."

"You proved yourself unwilling to learn how to control and use it," said the woman, and Evie's cheeks burned with shame. "But you will continue to carry it. The coming battle will toughen you, and when you pass it onto your daughters you will be able to teach them to use it in the way you couldn't."

"A daughter?" whispered Evie, her hand flying to the place where her baby grew. "Sirius was right?"

The woman's eyes grew sad, and when she spoke her voice was full of grief. "I am truly sorry, Evie," she said softly. "A tiny portion of the power remains in your body. It was only enough to preserve one life. Your child perished when Bellatrix Lestrange's curse hit you."

"No," moaned Evie. The grief she had felt waiting to pounce on her when she had woken sank its teeth into her and refused to let go. The little girl she had imagined with glossy black hair and her mother's eyes, the little boy with Sirius's lopsided smile, had slipped away from her and she hadn't even realised. She hadn't spared a thought for her unborn child when she ran headlong into the fight; all her concern had been for her friends. Sirius would hate her for what she had done, and she would have to live with the knowledge that she had put her baby in front of Bellatrix's wand. A scream built in her chest, but when it came it was a tiny, broken thing that didn't come close to expressing the agony that was breaking Evie's heart.

Cool hands cupped Evie's cheeks, wiping away her tears and soothing her hot skin. "You did what you thought was right," said the woman quietly. "You succeeded in saving a life tonight, although you don't know it. And your man doesn't hate you. He blames himself for what passed."

"But it wasn't his fault!" protested Evie, not thinking to question how the woman seemed to know her thoughts. "He tried to stop me and I didn't listen!"

"He knows he would have done the same in your place. Indeed, he wasn't supposed to join the fight tonight. He believes that if he had not prevented you from fighting, if he had known you were there and protected you, things would have been different."

"But-"

"Hush," the woman ordered, her voice kind even though it was firm. "You have to be strong when you go back to him."

"I can't face him!" cried Evie, horrified.

"You must," said the woman grimly. "He needs you. Your brother needs you. A war approaches fast and you must face it, as I faced mine."

Evie drew herself up and tried to feel brave, but she couldn't prevent the tears that trickled down her cheeks in a seemingly endless flow. The woman smiled approvingly and took Evie's hand in hers, and calm spread from the place where their palms touched. Leading her out of the kitchen and through the living room, the woman opened the door and bade her look outside. The garden had disappeared. Instead of grass and flowers Evie looked down at herself. She lay unconscious in an unfamiliar hospital bed, Sirius, his eyes red rimmed, gripping her hand and a shell shocked Harry sprawled in a chair next to her bed.

"How do I do it?" she asked. "How do I get down there?"

"You just have to step outside." The woman squeezed her hand. "Remember what I said: they need you. You need them. Look after each other and your brother will find forgiveness in his heart."

"Forgiveness?" repeated Evie, and began to ask what he would have to forgive when she realised that he would have been told she had lost a baby. There were only so many candidates for the father. Had he figured it out on his own, or had someone told him? This knowledge should have made her more reluctant to leave, but instead it hardened her resolve. She couldn't allow Sirius to face Harry's anger alone, particularly if he was feeling the same aching grief that made it difficult for her to breathe.

She hesitated on the doorstep, needing to know one final thing. "Before I go, who are you?"

"I've told you who I am. I am Mae's ancestor."

"But-"

"You require a name," the woman interrupted. "It is human nature to wish to know such things, to better understand the unknown by naming and categorising it."

Evie smiled weakly. "Yes."

"When I lived my name was Allys. Allys Gryffindor."

With a warm smile, Allys placed her hand on the base of Evie's back and gently pushed her out of the door.


	50. The Hospital Wing

Last chapter! There will definitely be a sequel set during Deathly Hallows because the epilogue I'd planned was far too long. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed! Particularly **Erratic Amethyst** for letting me bounce ideas off her, and **Arciere** for offering to do the same (and for being lovely enough to point readers in the direction of this story). Also **Snuffles-sweetie, Queen Nightshade, Music is my Muse, bellacitron, Arianna Juliet, selenehekate, GryffindorGal87, brunette-in-black, KatherineGrace79, Sir Stud Muffin, islay12, Samara Longbottom **and **LunaLoonyLongbottom **for reading and reviewing regularly (sorry if I missed anyone!)

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Harry had been forced to re-evaluate his place in the world many times. There had been a time, long before he could remember, when every sniffle and bump had been worried over and kissed better; when every night had ended with a lullaby and blankets tucked tenderly around his shoulders. This golden period of his life – and effectively his childhood – had ended the night Voldemort crossed the threshold of his home. Under the Dursleys' care Harry had eventually learned that silence was the key to survival: crying when he was hurt or when Dudley broke his few second hand toys only earned him angry recriminations and punishments.

At the age of eleven, a giant had broken down the door and informed Harry that he was a wizard. Hard on the heels of this momentous revelation was the discovery that his parents had not died in a car crash, as his aunt and uncle had always claimed, but had been murdered by the most feared dark wizard to ever live. And he, Harry, had miraculously survived the curse that had killed every other witch and wizard unfortunate enough to be in its path. He had adjusted to this news with the whole of the wizarding world's eyes on him as he entered Hogwarts, all expecting greatness, all waiting for the delicious gossip of his troublemaking.

For all that Hogwarts was his home, his sanctuary, its inhabitants had not always been kind to Harry. Half the school had once believed him to be the Heir of Slytherin, and had whispered and stared when he walked the corridors. He had been cheered and reviled in equal measures during his stint as the second, unexpected and controversial, Hogwarts Champion. This year he had suffered because of Dumbledore's fall from grace and his refusal to lie about Voldemort's return. Sometimes furiously, sometimes bitterly, he had adjusted to the fluctuations in public opinion. Although it had cost him friends, such as Percy and, briefly, Seamus, and hurt those who remained loyal to him, Harry had weathered all storms.

But never before had he felt so out of place. He had seen Bellatrix murder his sister. As if paralysed, knowing what was about to happen but unable to stop it, he had watched Bellatrix raise her wand and shout the words that would end Evie's life. He had watched Evie crumple as the green light hit her squarely in the chest. Then, as his godfather bellowed as if under the Cruciatus curse, Harry had sprinted after Bellatrix as she made her escape, murder in his heart. He felt no grief: it was buried beneath a burning anger that, despite the many injustices inflicted upon him, he had never known before.

The rest of the night had been filled with revelations. The revelation that, despite what Bellatrix had taken from him, he could not bring himself to kill. The revelation that his deep respect for Dumbledore did not prevent him from smashing up his office. The revelation that, in the end, he would have to kill Voldemort, or be killed by him. Then, finally, when his head was already reeling, the revelation that his sister had done what he had done at the age of one: survived the Avada Kedavra curse. But she had been pregnant during the fight, and the baby had died at the hands of Bellatrix.

Now he sat at Evie's bedside in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Fudge, finally forced to admit that Harry and Dumbledore had been telling the truth, had announced that Sirius was an innocent man after the battle at the Department of Mysteries. The story – along with Fudge's apology on behalf of the Ministry – would be in every newspaper and magazine by morning. Although Sirius could keep a vigil over Evie without fear of the Dementor's Kiss and a return to Azkaban, he wasn't enjoying his newfound freedom. By the time Harry had returned from Dumbledore's office Sirius's eyes were red, his face as pale and drawn as it had been on the night they had first met.

"I don't understand," said Harry slowly. "How could she have been pregnant? I thought she was staying at Grimmauld Place with you. Did she leave?"

It seemed to take Sirius a great deal of effort to raise his eyes to Harry's and speak. "No. She only left a couple of times, and Remus escorted her."

"Then who was it?" demanded Harry, slamming his fists into the arms of his chair in frustration. He wasn't sure why he was so angry. It certainly didn't help that his temper was still hot from the confrontation at the Ministry. He was furious at the father of Evie's child for allowing her to fight when she was pregnant, and for not being here now that she looked so pale and vulnerable. Although he hated himself for feeling that way, he was also undeniably angry with Evie for keeping the secret from him.

"It had to be someone with access to Grimmauld Place," he continued in a mutter when Sirius failed to answer his question. It didn't take long for his confused mind to seize upon the only likely candidate: Fred. Hermione had pointed out Fred's attraction to Evie over the Christmas holidays, and he'd had plenty of time to act on it since leaving Hogwarts. "Fred!" cried Harry. "It must have been him! Am I right? Do you know?"

But something in Sirius's eyes made Harry pause. He almost looked as if he was afraid of Harry. Without Harry's consent, images began to run through his mind. Sirius's hand lingering on Evie's shoulder for a moment longer than was necessary. The slow, sweet smile of Evie's that only Sirius could inspire. The easy intimacy Harry had witnessed between them over Christmas. Suddenly Sirius's howl of pain when Bellatrix cursed Evie at the Ministry, the grief in his eyes now, made sense.

Fred wasn't the father of Evie's baby. Sirius was.

"Harry…" said Sirius gently.

"No!" shouted Harry, shocked by the volume of his voice and even more surprised that his sudden fury was directed at his godfather. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Harry…"

"Isn't it?"

"Yes."

That one word, spoken so quietly and simply, changed Harry's world. Sirius was the one dependable thing in Harry's life. Occasionally he could be irresponsible, his mood sometimes erratic, but Harry knew he only had to send an owl and his godfather would be at his side. After tonight he would never be able to rely so completely on Sirius again. How could he, when Sirius had abused the trust placed in him when Evie was given into his care? It didn't matter, at that moment, that she must have been a willing partner. Sirius was the adult, their godfather. It was his job to make sure that everything was right. Instead he had done something terribly wrong, and the only two people who Harry could call family had deceived him unforgivably.

"How long?" he asked, needing to know how long they had kept this from him.

Sirius lowered his eyes to the floor and said in a barely audible voice, "Since before Christmas."

"Get out," Harry ordered through gritted teeth.

Sirius shook his head, and when he spoke his voice was full of pleading for Harry to understand. "I can't. I'd do anything for you, Harry, but I can't leave. I have to be here when she wakes up."

Harry couldn't stand there and watch Sirius grip Evie's hand in a way that had seemed natural only minutes before, but was now entirely wrong. Neither could he bear to be there when Evie woke up and the two were reunited. The image of his sister and godfather sharing a tender kiss, or lacing their fingers together, froze Harry's insides. If Sirius wouldn't leave then Harry would have to. His stiff legs were moving of their own volition, carrying him out of the hospital wing and through the deserted corridors of Hogwarts, taking him further away from Sirius's desperate pleas for him to return.

Sirius had been his father's friend. Old enough, in fact, to be Evie's father himself. What would James have thought about this? Would he have forbidden his daughter to ever see Sirius again, cut his oldest friend out of his life? Even now was he watching from somewhere beyond death, baying for Sirius's blood? Or would James have found it in his heart to forgive him, perhaps even accept them?

As strange as the relationship seemed to Harry, he could have learned to accept it. There was a large age difference and the thought of his godfather and sister being together like _that _made him feel queasy, but stranger things had happened and he could learn to live with whatever made them happy. What he found unforgivable, what had sent him running from the hospital wing, was the fact that they had concealed it from him. That Sirius, who had been so keen to tell him of Voldemort's plans when everyone else wanted to keep him in the dark, would keep something so important from him felt like the worst kind of betrayal to Harry. As he ran, it occurred to him that other people must have known. The Order members who were regularly at headquarters must have noticed, and someone would have been brought in to take care of Evie when she fell pregnant. How many other people had found out before him? Would they have told him if he hadn't figured it out for himself?

He found himself at the top of the Astronomy Tower, breathing steadying gulps of the crisp night air. Footsteps echoed in the passageway behind him and, glancing briefly over his shoulder, he saw Dumbledore. Although the headmaster must have followed him, there was no flush of exertion on his cheeks. Harry also noted that Dumbledore was never heard unless he wanted to be; he must want Harry to know he was there, and to speak to him.

"Evie is awake," he said gently. "I believe, and so does Madam Pomfrey, that she will make a full recovery."

"Did you know?" asked Harry abruptly.

"Yes. It wasn't my place to tell you, Harry. It was Sirius and Evie's decision. I believe they acted as they thought best; they didn't want to hurt you."

"Fat lot of good that did," he muttered.

"Harry, I know you are angry, perhaps rightly so. But it would be a shame to lose your family over this."

Harry jerked his head noncommittally, wanting to say that it was not _his_ fault that he was angry with Sirius and Evie, that _he_ hadn't caused this rift, but terrified at the thought of losing either of them. He was still furious with both of them, but he didn't want to cut them out of his life. They were the only family he had.

"They need you," continued Dumbledore in a quiet voice.

"They've managed fine without me all year!" spat Harry.

"They grieve deeply. They have lost their child."

Somehow, Harry had failed to think of the baby as a living thing. It was the centre of Sirius and Evie's betrayal, the thing that had finally given them away. He hadn't thought of it as something made of their flesh and blood, something they had dreamed about. _Someone_, in fact, rather than something. It had never occurred to him that Sirius's grief had not just been for Evie, but for the baby that had died at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange, another in a long line of innocent victims in the war against Voldemort. He knew the pain of losing a parent and a friend, but he had no idea how it felt to have a child murdered before it was even born. Suddenly Harry felt sick.

Shame now bubbling with anger in the pit of his stomach, Harry turned and walked past Dumbledore and through the corridors that would lead him back to the hospital wing. He wasn't sure what he would achieve by returning, and he was nowhere near ready to forgive them for their deception, but the thought of them worrying about his anger while grieving for their child made him feel more than a little guilty.

The hospital doors stood open. Inside Harry could see that Evie was indeed awake. Her face was pressed tightly against Sirius's shoulder as her body shook softly. Sirius stroked her hair and looked pleadingly at Tonks and Lupin, standing beside the bed, as if asking them how to comfort her. Although Tonks and Lupin looked desperately sad, they seemed entirely at ease with the sight of Evie and Sirius clinging to each other. Two more who knew about their relationship, and had accepted it.

Harry didn't feel angry anymore. He felt isolated from the people before him, shut out from his own family as he always had been at the Dursleys. He began to back away, but something made Evie look up and their eyes met. It was impossible to mistake the happiness in their green depths as they alighted on Harry, as well as the sudden rush of guilt. "Don't go, Harry," she pleaded. "Please stay."

Sirius turned to Harry at Evie's words. Relief flitted briefly over his features before he became wary, clearly wondering whether Harry was going to shout again. "Stay," he said softly, repeating Evie's request.

Harry walked forwards and placed an awkward, tentative hand on Evie's shoulder. She grasped it hard enough to hurt, as if clinging to a lifeline. He wasn't ready to forgive, nor could he quite accept them, but he wasn't willing to give them up or add to their suffering.

"We should go," said Tonks, gently tugging on Lupin's sleeve. "Let you have some time on your own."

"No," protested Evie. "I have something to tell you. Dumbledore will need to know, too, but I want you four to know first."

"Evie?" said Sirius softly.

She looked up at him, placing her free hand gently on his cheek. "It's about how I survived tonight."

His eyes widened in shock. "You know how?"

"I know," she confirmed, nodding. "Allys Gryffindor told me."


End file.
